Head of UGCC Discusses Cultural Heritage and National Unity with Ukraine’s Minister of Culture

His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, met with Tetiana Berezhna, Minister of Culture and Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy of Ukraine, on March 25, 2026, on the Feast of the Annunciation of Our Most Holy Lady. The meeting occurred amid a massive Russian missile attack that struck several Ukrainian cities on March 24, including Lviv, where facilities near UNESCO World Heritage List sites were damaged.

His Beatitude Sviatoslav highlighted the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s (UGCC) centuries-old role in the development and preservation of Ukrainian culture. He specifically mentioned Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, a founder of the National Museum in Lviv, patron of monumental art, and advocate of Ukrainian traditions. The Head of the UGCC noted that Metropolitan Andrey’s donation of the museum collection to the Ukrainian people—an entity whose existence was officially denied at the time—constituted a nation-building legal act.

The Head of the UGCC also discussed the work of the Church’s Special Commission on Culture and Church Art, established to preserve cultural heritage under the Church’s auspices. The participants recalled Russia’s targeted attacks on cultural sites in Ukraine. His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized that the Church fulfills a dual mission: fostering a conscious attitude toward cultural heritage and conveying the voice of the Ukrainian people to the international community.

During the meeting, His Beatitude Sviatoslav proposed that the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine compile a list of nationwide shrines—sites that serve as symbols of the unity of the entire Ukrainian people and cannot be transferred for the exclusive use of any single denomination. The Head of the UGCC included St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv and other sites associated with the era of Kyivan Rus’ and undivided Kyivan Christianity among such shrines.

“There are symbols and shrines that belong to the entire nation. They cannot be transferred for the exclusive use—even on a lease basis—of a single denomination. These shrines must unite, not divide,” emphasized His Beatitude Sviatoslav. The Head of the UGCC noted that the UGCC does not claim ownership of these sites, but seeks to ensure equal access to prayer at the shrines of the nation.

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