Archbishop Svyatoslav, we cordially congratulate you on being elected to lead the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), of one of the most influential Christian churches in Eastern Europe. We are certain that you will bear ecclesiastical service with honor and for the greater good of the entire poly-ethnic Ukrainian nation.

The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress and the Jewish Communiy of Ukraine highly value the open and considerate position of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and its active participation in the Jewish-Christian dialogue. The UGCC's position in the interfaith dialogue can be characterized as a readiness for a laborious, patient, and calm search for points in common and a generation of common positions on the difficult questions of the day.

During the tragic years of the Holocaust in Ukrainian langs, the Greek Catholic Church, led by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptitsky, organized an entire system for rescuing the Jews from certain doom. After the end of the war, the Church was decimated by the Soviers, yet Ukrainian Greek Catholics in the underground and GULAG cooperated with the participants of the Independent Jewish Movement, otkazniks, and dissidents. This experience of solidarity in a confrontation with the bloody totalitarian regimes of the XX century has largely preconditioned the level of mutual understanding and respect that has formed between the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Jewish community of Ukraine.

The EAJC wishes His Beatitude good health and many years of fruitful work for his flock and all Ukrainians.