"I am sure about the commitment of all the Ukraine Catholics in the service of the common good of the country, and I know that they wish to daily witness the Gospel through solidarity with the smallest, the will to build up peace, and the desire to gradually strengthen the values of the family founded on the marriage institution": said the Pope in the Vatican, today, during his speech addressed to the new Ambassador of the Ukraine Republic, Tatiana Izhevska. Benedict XVI told her to thank President Yutchenko "for his warm invitation to visit your beautiful country", recalling that Ukraine "is deeply permeated with the Gospel… since its more than millenary baptism in Kiev". He pointed out the "good relationship atmosphere between public authorities and the Churches", which enabled the creation of the "All-Ukraine Council of Churches and Religious Organizations", from which "a programme for the teaching of Christian ethics in state schools" emerged. The Pope congratulated the Ambassador for the concession to the Catholic University of Ukraine to issue the bachelor’s degree and the licence in theology. Among other things, the Ambassador recalled the commitment "for the restitution of the places of worship confiscated by the communist regime".
