Pope meets with Ukrainian premier, prince of Monaco
October 16, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI met with Monaco's Prince Albert II and Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko in separate private audiences on October 16. In his meeting with Prince Albert, the Pope spoke of "the importance of a solid cultural and moral formation of the young and the defense of life in all its phases," the Vatican said in a short public statement after the conversation. With Timoshenko he discussed "the promotion of peace and international cooperation, especially in Europe."
The Pope's conversation with the Ukrainian prime minister also touched on the role of the Catholic Church-- especially in Byzantine Catholic Church-- in that country. The Ukrainian Catholic Church, which is the largest Eastern Church in communion with Rome, has emerged vigorously after decades of harsh repression under the country's former Communist regime. The reinvigorated Catholic Church has frequently come into conflict with the Ukrainian Orthodox community-- which is itself split into three competing factions.
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