On April 16, 2024, a session of the Meeting of Christian Churches of Ukraine (Meeting of Churches) was held in Kyiv in the premises of the Social and Religious Community of the CVE "Philadelphia" under the chairmanship of the Senior Bishop of the Ukrainian Church of the Evangelical Faith Anatoliy Kozachok.

The heads and authorized representatives of the churches expressed and approved the Regulation on the Meeting of Christian Churches of Ukraine, which was prepared by the Secretariat of the Meeting.

The participants of the meeting discussed a number of issues related to education and upbringing based on spiritual and moral values   in the Ukrainian school.

During the discussion of educational issues, the importance of the recent meeting between the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine O. Lisovyi and members of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations was noted, as well as further steps regarding the implementation of the Agreement between the Ministry of Education and Culture and Science and Technology of Ukraine dated August 25, 2021 were supported. Based on the results of the discussion of the mentioned issues, the Council of Churches made a decision on the formation of the Commission on Education.

The participants of the meeting discussed a number of topical issues in the field of state-church relations in the context of martial law. In particular, there are possible consequences regarding the spiritual and humanitarian activities of churches in Ukrainian society after the adoption by the parliament of amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Mobilization Training and Mobilization", as well as regarding the oppression of freedom of religion by Russia in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

The Council of Churches, in accordance with its decision, which was adopted at the meeting of Heads of Churches on February 20, 2024, considered and adopted the Appeal to the Ukrainian people and authorities regarding socio-economic issues.

By a unanimous decision, the Head and Father of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Supreme Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, was elected as the next Chairman for the upcoming period.

The session of the Meeting of Churches was attended by the heads and authorized representatives of the Ukrainian Church of Evangelical Christians, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christian Baptist Churches, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Evangelical Church, the Ukrainian Lutheran Church, the Ukrainian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Brotherhood of Independent Evangelical Christian Baptist Churches and Missions, and the Institute of Religious Freedom.

Photo by Fr. о. Serhiy Bovkun (OCU)