He stated this on June 10th in Lviv while visiting UCU, in answer to a question by RISU journalist, whether Vatican can make an agreement with Moscow that it refrain from accusing Greek-Catholics of proselytism, since UOC (MP) itself does not consider its relations with Greek-Catholics to be conflictive. "Such accusations are not heard as often right now as they were in the past," stated the guest of UCU.
Cardinal Kurt Koch emphasized that the issue of proselytism is in itself a very complicated one because not every accusation of proselytism has real grounds.
"Behind this issue stands the issue of the freedom of choice of every individual. Each person has a right to choose that confession and Church to which one wants to belong. Therefore such issues should maximally grant the individual their freedom of choice," he said.
UGCC Head Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), who accompanied the Honored Guest during his visit to UCU, expressed his own expectations that all accusations from the side of the Russian Orthodox Church against the Greek-Catholics will finally totally become history.
"During 20 years we have heard accusations, yet problems remain only when there is no desire to have unity. Metropolitan Antoniy's words are significant and we hope that finally all the accusations of the Greek-Catholics which we hear from representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church will remain in the past. We expect that this information which comes from the representative of UOC (MP) will be heard in Moscow in the Russian Orthodox Church. As for us, Greek-Catholics, we will always speak the truth, no matter how bitter it may be," emphasized His Beatitude Sviatoslav
As is known, the issue of "proselytism by UGCC" and conflicts between Greek-Catholics and Orthodox (Moscow Patriarchate) in Western Ukraine are raised by the Eparchy of Russian Orthodox Church before the Vatican, whenever talk turns towards settlement of the Orthodox-Catholic dialogue and the possibility of a meeting between the Roman Pope and the Moscow Patriarch. One of the favorite topics among ROC clergy is "the forced liquidation" of three Orthodox eparchies in Galicia at the beginning of the 90s.
In fact, on May 27th during The VII Festival of the Orthodox Media in Lviv, the Manager of UOC (MP) Issues, Borispil Metropolitan Antoniy (Pakanych) assured all that in Galicia there are no misunderstandings between Orthodox and Greek-Catholics and that the relations between the two Churches in this region are stable.
2 - POPE RECEIVES ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: PATH TOWARD UNITY, PRAYING AND WORKING TOGETHER
Vatican City, 14 June 2013 (VIS) – This morning in the Vatican, Pope Francis received the Primate of all England and head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, England, with the same words that Paul VI greeted his predecessor, Michael Ramsey, during his historic visit to the Vatican in 1966: "Your steps have not brought you to a foreign dwelling ... we are pleased to open the doors to you, and with the doors, our heart, pleased and honoured as we are ... to welcome you 'not as a guest or a stranger, but as a fellow citizen of the Saints and the Family of God'." He also recalled that, at the ceremony of his taking possession of the Cathedral of Canterbury, the archbishop prayed for the new Bishop of Rome, a gesture that the Pope was deeply grateful for. He added: "Since we began our respective ministries within days of each other, I think we will always have a particular reason to support one another in prayer."
"The history of relations between the Church of England and the Catholic Church," the Pope continued, "is long and complex, and not without pain. Recent decades, however, have been marked by a journey of rapprochement and fraternity, and for this we give heartfelt thanks to God. This journey has been brought about both via theological dialogue, through the work of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, and via the growth of cordial relations at every level through shared daily lives in a spirit of profound mutual respect and sincere cooperation. In this regard, I am very pleased to welcome alongside you Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster. These firm bonds of friendship have enabled us to remain on course even when difficulties have arisen in our theological dialogue that were greater than we could have foreseen at the start of our journey."
Francis expressed his gratitude to the archbishop for "the sincere efforts that the Church of England has made to understand the reasons that led ... Pope Benedict XVI, to provide a canonical structure able to respond to the wishes of those groups of Anglicans who have asked to be received collectively into the Catholic Church." He stated that the structure "will enable the spiritual, liturgical, and pastoral traditions that form the Anglican patrimony to be better known and appreciated in the Catholic world."
The pontiff then noted that their meeting is an opportunity to recall that "the search for unity among Christians is prompted not by practical considerations, but by the will of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who made us his brothers and sisters, children of the One Father. Hence the prayer that we make today is of fundamental importance."
Their praying together "gives a fresh impulse to our daily efforts to grow towards unity, which are concretely expressed in our cooperation in various areas of daily life. Particularly important among these is our witness to the reference to God and the promotion of Christian values in a world that seems at times to call into question some of the foundations of society, such as respect for the sacredness of human life or the importance of the institution of the family built on marriage. … Then there is the effort to achieve greater social justice, to build an economic system that is at the service of man and promotes the common good. Among our tasks as witnesses to the love of Christ is that of giving a voice to the cry of the poor, so that they are not abandoned to the laws of an economy that seems at times to treat people as mere consumers."
"I know that Your Grace," the Holy Father asserted, "is especially sensitive to all these questions, in which we share many ideas, and I am also aware of your commitment to foster reconciliation and resolution of conflicts between nations. In this regard, together with Archbishop Nichols [the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, England], you have urged the authorities to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian conflict such as would guarantee the security of the entire population, including the minorities, not least among whom are the ancient local Christian communities. As you yourself have observed, we Christians bring peace and grace as a treasure to be offered to the world, but these gifts can bear fruit only when Christians live and work together in harmony. This makes it easier to contribute to building relations of respect and peaceful coexistence with those who belong to other religious traditions, and with non-believers."
"The unity we so earnestly long for," concluded the Pope, "is a gift that comes from above and it is rooted in our communion of love with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. … May the merciful Father hear and grant the prayers that we make to him together."
3- CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS IN RELATIONS BETWEEN VIETNAM AND HOLY SEE
Vatican City, 14 June 2013 (VIS) – The Working Group Meeting between the Holy See and Vietnam met for the fourth time from 13 to 14 June, in the Vatican. The meeting was co-chaired by Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, under-secretary for Relations with States, and by Mr. Bui Thanh Son, Vietnam's vice-minister of Foreign Affairs.
As reported in a press release, the two sides informed each other about their respective situation and reviewed and discussed Vietnam – Holy See relations and other issues related to the Catholic Church in Vietnam.
The Vietnamese side stressed the consistent implementation and continuous improvements in policies by the Party and State of Vietnam related to the respect and assurance of freedom of religion and religious beliefs, as well as continued encouragement of different religions, and the Vietnam Catholic Church in particular, in taking active part in the national construction and socio-economic development process. The Holy See side expressed appreciation and gratitude for the attention given by various levels of Government to the activities of the Vietnam Catholic Church, particularly the 10th Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences held in Xuan Loc and Ho Chi Minh City in December 2012, as well as the pastoral visits of the non-resident Papal Representative, Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli. The Holy See stressed the desire to develop further Vietnam – Holy See relations and underlined the need to have as soon as possible a Papal Representative resident in the country, for the benefit of all concerned.
The two sides believe that Vietnam – Holy See relations have progressed in a spirit of goodwill, constructive exchange and respect for principles in the relationship. In this spirit, and in view of the commitment to develop further mutual relations, the work of the non-resident Papal Representative will be facilitated in order to allow him to carry out his mission even more fruitfully. The two sides agreed to meet for the 5th Round of the Joint Working Group between Vietnam and the Holy See in Hanoi. The time of the meeting will be arranged through diplomatic channels.