UGCC head highlights chief rabbi’s role in strengthening Ukrainians’ faith

Moshe Asman and Shevchuk. Photo: UGCC website

On March 10, 2026, UGCC head Sviatoslav Shevchuk sent an official congratulatory message to Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi, Moshe Reuven Asman, on the occasion of his 60th birthday. On Shevchuk’s behalf, the greeting was personally delivered by Fr. Ihor Shaban, head of the UGCC Commission for Interreligious Relations, and Fr. Mykola Sulyma, Chancellor of the Patriarchal Curia. This was reported by the UGCC Information Department.

In his message, the Uniate leader emphasized the rabbi’s special role in the country’s spiritual life during the war. Shevchuk said that Moshe Asman’s words “give people hope and strengthen their faith that after darkness, light will surely come.” In the view of the UGCC head, the rabbi’s work helps Ukrainians preserve their faith in the victory of good over evil.

To reinforce his point, Sviatoslav Shevchuk even turned to quotations from Jewish spiritual authorities. He recalled the words of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, that even a single good deed performed with faith can bring light into the world. The UGCC head described Moshe Asman’s ministry as precisely such a “light,” strengthening hope in people’s hearts.

Shevchuk also thanked the rabbi separately for his attention to the figure of Andrey Sheptytsky and for helping promote his legacy, expressing hope that through his efforts Sheptytsky’s name will finally take its “proper place among the Righteous Among the Nations.” In closing, the UGCC leader wished the rabbi and the entire Jewish community of Ukraine “many good and blessed years.”

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the Institute of National Memory and the SBU had opened an exhibition about the council that liquidated the UGCC.

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