Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has stated that the Ukrainian government has always been and will be an active partner of the church in building constructive relations, Kyiv Post reported.
"The government cares about how… the life of the church is organized," he said during his meeting with students and professors of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv on Thursday, the presidential press service reports.
He said that the state had always provided constructive assistance to the church in building church relations.
"I would like this mission of the state to be viewed this way, [and] this wish is simple: to bring harmony to the church, freeing [religious] communities from conflict," the president said.
Speaking about the role of spirituality in building the Ukrainian state, Yushchenko said: "The Ukrainian church, and I am speaking here about all its parts, including the Greek-Catholic church, gives strong national directives. This allows us, both politicians and other people, to seriously reconsider our role."
The president also invited the rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University Borys Hudziak to participate in an official visit by a Ukrainian delegation to the Vatican on June 1.
