PM met with members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations

On Friday, 3 October, Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov met with the members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations.

The meeting began with a minute of silence for the soldiers fallen in the ATO area.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk has expressed his gratitude to the representatives of the Council for their great spiritual work: "In this challenging time for the country, when we are at war, there is no atheist. Together, with God, everyone trusts in God and everyone asks God for help. And how you help, how you pray, inspire faith in Ukrainians, worry about Ukrainian citizens and the country as a whole – it is crucially important. People want to hear your word and hear confidence. And I would like to thank you for this great spiritual work that you are doing."

The Prime Minister has reminded that he repeatedly met with the members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations: “Certain tasks have been set, and some are fulfilled by the Government.”

Moreover, he underlined, the Government made a decision to develop chaplain service in the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the Security Service – in all armed groups: “For the first in 23 years, military chaplains now go directly to our soldiers, to our troops, and along with the Ukrainian army they pray and protect the country.”

Arseniy Yatsenyuk has also recalled that it was adopted a new law on education, which enables the Ministry of Education to license religious schools: “Now diplomas issued by religious educational institutions have the same status as diplomas in educational establishments across the country.”

Now the pupils of grades 5-6 at secondary school study a subject of religious education: "It is important that such a course really preached the word of God and taught children how to behave, to think about their country, how to pray together and to fulfill the word of God."

As to economic issues, Arseniy Yatsenyuk has noted that the Government approved a decree, providing a 50% decrease in electricity tariff for religious organizations.

The Prime Minister has also said that the Government decided to establish the Crimean house, and now the issue of its final location is on the agenda: “This state enterprise will provide full support to the work of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches.”

Arseniy Yatsenyuk has stressed the importance of support by churches and religious organizations as well as volunteers in such a challenging situation Ukraine faces. He has recalled that the Government decided to assist internally displaced persons, introduced the procedure of their registration and payment of state aid. The official number of internally displaced persons from the area of the antiterrorist operation in the east of Ukraine is 350,000.