In the presence (left to right at the ovation) of Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyivan Patriarchate), Major-Archbishop of Kyiv and all Ukraine, Patriarch Sviatoslav of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Chief Rabbi Jacob Dov Bleich of Kyiv and Ukraine, Metropolitan Mefodiy of Kiev and all Ukraine (Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church), the Mufti of Ukraine, Sheikh Ahmed Tamim (Chairman of the Islamyat, Spiritual Board of Muslims of Ukraine) and Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki of Lviv of the Latin Catholics. There was no representative of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (Moscow Patriarchate), as it does not recognise the right to autonomy of other Orthodox communities in Ukraine and relations with them is strained owing to disputes over the ownership of churches, and objections to their seizure and assignment by local groups and the authorities alike. Nor was there a representation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada (Patriarchate of Constantinople), which does not recognise the Orthodox Churches of Ukraine not of the Moscow Patriarchate as canonical. In hope and loving solidarity with all Christians we pray for the resolution of all disagreements, the reconciliation of the Churches and the unity of all the followers of Jesus Christ, “that the world may believe”.
The event marked the presence in Canada of twenty religious leaders from Ukraine, Orthodox, Catholic, Jewish, Evangelical, Muslim, Adventist for the Symposium, Honouring Andrey Sheptytsky: Ethical Action in Extreme Conditions at St Paul University’s Sheptytsky Institute for Eastern Christian Studies.