Andrii Deshchytsya participates in ceremony of canonization of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII
On April 27, 2014, on behalf
of the Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the acting Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Deshchytsia
participated in a ceremony of canonization of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII.
The Ukraine’s
delegation also comprised of Minister of Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Ostap Semerak and Ambassador of
Ukraine in Vatican Tetyana Izhevska.
The ceremony was led
by Pope Francis assisted by Pope Benedict XVI, 150 cardinals and 700 bishops
among which were the Patriarch of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Svyatoslav (Shevchuk) and President of
Conference of Rome Catholic Bishops of Ukraine Mieczysław Mokrzycki.
The event that was
taking place in St. Peter’s Square was attended by delegations from almost 100
states, heads of leading international organizations and institutions, church leaders
and hierarchs of various faiths, and over a million of pilgrims from all over
the world.
In the framework of
the ceremony Andrii Deshchytsia
exchanges with congratulations with Pope Francis, had talks with the President
of Poland B. Komorowski, Prime Minister of Poland D.
Tusk, Secretary of State (head of government) of Vatican P. Parolin,
he also met with President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Commission Jose M. Barroso, President of Lithuania D. Grybauskaite.