On May 28, 2025, the delegation of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) participated in a morning prayer and parliamentary hearings at the Parliament of the Kingdom of Denmark (Folketing), concluding their official visit to Copenhagen.
During the morning prayer in Parliament, Pastor Anatoliy Raychynets (Ukrainian Bible Society) shared examples of church ministry during the war. Based on the biblical text from the Book of Jeremiah 29:11–13, he called on attendees to pray for the Ukrainian people and for a just peace in Ukraine. The prayer event concluded with a collective rendition of the hymn “Amazing Grace” and the recitation of the “Lord’s Prayer.” In addition to the UCCRO delegation, participants included the Speaker of the Danish Parliament, members of various parliamentary factions, as well as public and religious figures.
At the end of the prayer event, UCCRO Chair Bishop Valerii Antoniuk presented Speaker Søren Gade with a symbolic painting created on boards from ammunition crates. The painting depicts Jesus Christ in prayer against the backdrop of Ukrainian cities devastated by Russian shelling, accompanied by words from John 17:15: “My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one.”
At the start of the hearings, which were attended by a group of Danish MPs led by Speaker Gade, the Ukrainian delegation performed the prayerful song “Let My Prayer Rise.” Afterwards, Bishop Valerii Antoniuk (Chair of UCCRO), Bishop Vitalii Kryvytskyi (Roman Catholic Church), Oleksandr Zaiets (Chairman of the Institute for Religious Freedom), and Viktoriia Raychynets (Director of the Trauma Healing Institute) provided the participants with accurate information about Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. They expressed gratitude to the Danish Parliament for its continued support of Ukraine, shared examples of spiritual and humanitarian service by churches during the war, spoke about the state of religious freedom in Ukraine, and highlighted cases of religious persecution in the territories temporarily occupied by Russia.
The Ukrainian representatives also explained to the Danish lawmakers why defensive weapons—such as missile defense systems—are just as essential for saving lives today as humanitarian aid is for those suffering from hunger and cold.
As a reminder, from May 26 to 28, 2025, the UCCRO delegation visited Copenhagen at the invitation of the National Council of Churches in Denmark. During the visit, they participated in the international conference “When Time Come,” met with Ambassador Natalia Freyberg, Special Representative of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Freedom of Religion or Belief, signed a joint Declaration of Solidarity “When Time Come” with the National Council of Churches in Denmark (NCCD), and held meetings with leaders of various Danish churches.
The UCCRO delegation included: Bishop Valerii Antoniuk (Chair of UCCRO, All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists), Bishop Vitalii Kryvytskyi (Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine), Mitred Archpriest Oleksa Petriv (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church), Bishop Stanislav Nosov (Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ukraine), Pastor Anatoliy Raychynets (Ukrainian Bible Society), Priest Serhii Berezhnoi (Orthodox Church of Ukraine), Oleksandr Zaiets (Institute for Religious Freedom), Viktoriia Raychynets and Olena Nosova (Trauma Healing Institute).