UCCRO members assure Egyptian ambassador that Ukraine has “freedom of faith”

Meeting of UCCRO representatives with the Ambassador of Egypt in Kyiv. Photo: vrciro.org

On September 9, 2025, representatives of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) met with Barakat Ali Elleissy, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Ukraine. The meeting took place at the ambassador’s residence, according to the Council’s website.

During the talks, UCCRO representatives spoke to the diplomat about the state of freedom of religion in Ukraine and the activities of churches under wartime conditions, emphasizing the importance of interfaith dialogue and cooperation within the Council’s framework. Ukrainian religious leaders drew the ambassador’s attention to “the persecution by Russian occupiers against believers of different faiths in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, the destruction of Ukrainian churches and other religious institutions, and Russia’s use of religion as a weapon in its hybrid war against Ukraine and the world.”

Both sides expressed readiness to continue dialogue and discussed prospects for further cooperation.

The meeting was attended by UCCRO chairman, Supreme Mufti of Ukraine Sheikh Ahmed Tamim; Metropolitan Yevstratiy (Zoria) of Bila Tserkva (OCU); Roman Catholic Bishop Oleksandr Yazlovetsky; representatives of the UGCC, Protestant communities, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Bible Society, and the Institute for Religious Freedom.

As a reminder, on July 23, 2025, OCU head Epifaniy Dumenko met with Ukraine’s Ambassador to Romania Ihor Prokopchuk to discuss the Moscow Patriarchate’s influence on church life in Moldova and the question of OCU recognition by Bucharest.

Earlier, the UOJ reported Patriarch Bartholomew’s words that the OCU and the UOC must unite.

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