Holy See Secretary of State meets Ukrainian President

Kyiv (RISU) — On 25 May 2008, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko met with the Vatican’s State Secretary, Cardinal Tarchizio Bertone, to discuss Ukrainian-Vatican relations, state-church cooperation, and inter-confessional dialogue in Ukraine. The participants discussed the possibility of setting up a research team to study and analyze historic documents concerning the Ukrainian state – especially ones mentioning the man-made famine of 1932-3 – that are found within the Vatican’s secret archives.
According to the presidential press service, Yushchenko awarded the Vatican State Secretary with the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (1st Degree) for his outstanding personal contribution to the spread of peace, justice, and human rights.

Later, he extended an invitation for Pope Benedict XVI to visit Ukraine, noting that Ukraine highly appreciates the pope’s aims of ensuring the respect of universal values and worldwide peace.

In turn, the Vatican delegation made special mention of Ukraine’s efforts to improve inter-confessional relations at home and the Cardinal reciprocated with an invitation for Ukraine’s President to make an official visit to Vatican this year.