Believes Anatoly Zlenko

“The Pope’s visit to Ukraine was an unquestionable success for Ukraine on the world arena,” Minister for Foreign Affairs Anatoly ZLENKO stated on July 3 at a meeting with the media, summing up the results for Pontifical visit to Ukraine. Zlenko was head of the organizing committee which prepared the Pope’s visit. He enthusiastically shared his impressions on the stay of the Vatican head in Ukraine. He compared his feelings with those he had in the early nineties when our state gained independence. “I see it as special symbolism when the Holy Father stirred up such memories on the eve of the tenth anniversary of Ukrainian independence,” Mr. Zlenko stressed. In His Holiness’ person, notes the Ukrainian minister, Ukraine has obtained a protector in world arena. Zlenko is convinced that during his stay in our country “the world has seen the real Ukraine,” hinting at the irreproachable organization of the Pontiff’s reception. Without false modesty the head of the organizing committee remarked that “titanic work lays behind the success of this visit.” This success cost Ukraine 3,300,300 hryvnias, which were assigned by the Cabinet of Ministers. Meanwhile, according to Zlenko, the results have not yet been summed up, and it is possible that there was “much less money spent.” In toto, according to Minister Zlenko’s information, “Three hundred thousand people were able to see the Pope in Kyiv, and two million and a half in Lviv, which is three times more than the population of the city.” As regards the protests from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate, “We consider them a certain reaction meant to distract people’s attention from the Papal visit.” Referring to some articles in Western media, the minister stressed that the Russian Orthodox Church “was not able to achieve its goal.”