DESS registers "Ukrainian Interchurch Council"

Meeting of the Ukrainian Interchurch Council. Photo: UIC website

On April 23, 2026, in Kyiv, Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience officially registered the “Ukrainian Interchurch Council” as a religious organization and spiritual center. The UIC reports that at its first meeting of the year, the council elected charismatic senior bishop Andriy Tyshchenko as its new chairman.

Participants in the meeting emphasized that the council has operated in the country for nearly twenty years, bringing together more than 1,300 religious organizations, missions, and movements across Ukraine.

Until recently, the structure had functioned without official registration, and the DESS order merely formalized its legal standing. Mykola Savchuk and Ruslan Kukharchuk were reappointed as deputies to the new chairman.

The main item on the agenda was discussion of a controversial Supreme Court ruling recognizing “de facto marital relations” between two men. The council condemned the verdict and decided to send an official appeal to parliament.

The authors of the document called on members of the Verkhovna Rada to consistently defend the Constitution of Ukraine, which defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. During May and June, UIC representatives plan to hold themed events marking Mother’s Day and Family Day.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that DESS had decided to reserve clergy abroad from mobilization.

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