Patriarch Svyatoslav: Ukraine’s security needs to be built around four key values

The security of the citizens of Ukraine and the Ukrainian nation as a whole should be based on several common principles, believes the Patriarch of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Svyatoslav. Patriarch Svyatoslav spoke about them during the 12^th Kyiv Security Forum, organized by the Open Ukraine Foundation.

He noted that for Ukrainians of all social statuses, beliefs, and confessions the key for security is based around four "principles of success" or "core values." 

"The first such value is the dignity of every human being, regardless of their religious or ethnic background. This is a foundation that can’t be divided into a map of Ukraine, as it once was, or by loyalty to a particular political idea. The second value – the common good. Without it, everything becomes fragmented and the nation is destroyed. Third value – solidarity. Ukraine couldn’t have made it through the last five years if people, regardless of their place of residence or profession, didn’t stand by each other to protect the nation, assist victims of the war, and uphold the common choice. The fourth value – private initiative, subsidiarity. That everyone does what they need to do at their place of work in order to accomplish the common goal," said the head of UGCC Svyatoslav.

Patriarch added that without the four core values, the life of every person becomes intolerable and even impossible. He quoted Pope John Paul II, who referred to an existence outside of the core values as the "culture of death."

In a general sense, the four core security value are the foundation of European civilization, believes the Head of the UGCC.

These values derive from our faith and Christian cultural tradition. We embraced them back in the days of Prince Volodymyr the Baptist, when we became a part of the Christian world, European culture and, in general, Western civilization. Values derive from moral principles. The Ukrainian people, as a matter of fact, have repeatedly shown their devotion to them. For example, during the Revolution of Dignity," said Patriarch Svyatoslav.

Commenting on the events of modern Ukrainian history, Father Svyatoslav said that they want to undermine our security and security values through "lines of conflict".

"Wanting to separate us, they look for lines of conflict in our society and apply pressure to them. Often times, these are very subtle, hard to identify, lines of division. But modern technology allows them to be found, which is, in its own right, an information war. People, for example, can attend the same church, have similar wealth, but be in different information stream and thus understand and interpret events differently. Crudely speaking, the society is split into those who watch TV, and those who don’t watch TV," summarizes the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Patriarch Svyatoslav.

FOR REFERENCE:

The annual "Kyiv Security Forum" was initiated by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk "Open Ukraine" Foundation in 2007. Since then, the Forum has become a platform for high-level, international discussions about relevant matters of national security, as well as the security of the Black Sea region, Europe, and the world.