Pontiff addresses religious leaders in Ukraine

(25 Jun 2001) Kiev - National Philharmonic Society building 1. Pope entering church 2. Wide of congregation 3. Two representatives of the All-Ukraine Council of Churches and Religious Organisations 4. Various shots of pope seated 5. Pope kissing council representatives 6. Mid shot of Metropolitan Filaret Bykivnia 7. Wide of site commemorating people killed by Stalin 8. Various of site including plaque to victim 9. Various of Pope arriving in Popemobile 10. Various of Pope leaving car and walking to monument 11. Wide of cross at site 12. Various of Pope making the sign of the cross 13. Pope leaving in the Popemobile STORYLINE John Paul II has called on leaders of Ukraine's religious organisations for an open, tolerant and fair dialogue. The Pontiff addressed the leaders of 16 leading religious organisations of Ukraine, affiliated to the All-Ukraine Council of Churches and Religious Organisations, on Sunday evening. The meeting took place in the National Philharmonic Society's building. It was chaired by head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church Cardinal Lyubomir Guzar. The Moscow-linked majority Orthodox Church pointedly did not attend. But the leader of a splinter Orthodox Church with 2 (m) million followers, Metropolitan Filaret, did go. "We hope your visit will contribute to the development of the Orthodox-Catholic dialogue and not a deepening of the rift, as Moscow thinks," Filaret said. "We pray for the unification of God's holy churches." The metropolitan predicted to reporters that the Pope would realise his long-held dream of visiting Russia, a prospect Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II has firmly rejected. Filaret said John Paul's reception in Ukraine "has great significance for the next visit of the Pope, which will be to Russia. When Russia sees what happened here in Ukraine, they will also want a papal visit," he said. At the meeting, Ukrainian Chief Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich touched on another issue that he said still causes pain in the Jewish community. He spoke of Jewish children who were adopted and baptised in Poland, the Ukraine and other countries to save them from the Nazis during World War II but who do not know they were born Jewish. After his meeting with the church leaders, the Pope travelled to a forest bearing the mass graves of scores of thousands of Ukrainians killed in Soviet jails in Kiev in 1929-1941. He prayed silently for two minutes before a six metre (20-foot) bronze cross, then recited a Latin prayer saying "Give them, Lord, eternal rest." Yellow ribbons around tree trunks mark the spots in the Bykivnia Woods where the victims' bodies were dumped. On some trees, simple wooden plaques list victims' names, and some carry messages decrying the executioners as "Stalinist hangmen." Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...