Zelensky meets with His Beatitude Onuphry and heads of OCU and UGCC
The head of the Ukrainian state discussed the upcoming celebration of Easter under quarantine restrictions with religious leaders.
On April 28, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky met with the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Sviatoslav Shevchuk and the head of the OCU Epiphany. This is reported by the website of the President of Ukraine.
At the meeting, which was also attended by the head of the President's Office, Andrei Yermak, they discussed the upcoming celebration of Easter in conditions of quarantine restrictions.
The Head of State noted that on the eve of Easter in Ukraine, the situation with the incidence of COVID-19 is controlled, and "we just overcame the third wave."
“This is the first week when there is a decrease of one to two thousand cases per day,” he said. “And I would like to discuss with you what other powerful signals we could send to prevent the regions from returning to the ‘red’ zone after Easter, because it has a great impact on citizens and the economy.”
According to the presidential press service, religious leaders assured that the issue of celebrating Easter amid the coronavirus pandemic is in the center of attention of all church communities, and their leaders are trying to do their best to make services available online, and people keep their distance and put on protective masks. At the same time, they noted the great importance of spiritual care amid quarantine restrictions, when people feel tired or even hostile or deperate.
At the end of the meeting, Zelensky invited His Beatitude Onuphy, Sviatoslav Shevchuk and Epiphany to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence and "expressed his hope for a joint prayer for Ukraine."
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that Zelensky fears a surge in COVID after Easter.
