Annual Report. PATRIARCHAL CURIA UGCC 2019

65 The second round table shared a similar topic "Foundation of trust in state institutions: from respon- sible voter to responsible politician" (March 13, 2019). The participants of the roundtable: Bishop Vitaliy Kryvytskiy(Kyiv archdiocese of RC, Head of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious organi- zations), Rev. Oleksa Petriv (Head of the Department of external relations of the Patriarchal Curia of the UGCC), Ihor Bandura (Evangelical Church), Victor Yelenskyi (Deputy of Ukraine, Head of the Parliament committee on religious freedom of Ukraine), Leonid Emets (Deputy of Ukraine, Parliamentary commit- tee on justice) and others discussed the issue of realizing responsibility for ones own electoral choice, improving of the electoral legislature, preserving Christian values in political activities and ensuring the transition of power from governing to serving the people. During the third round table — "Establishing justice in Ukraine" (Sep. 26, 2019) — the speakers discussed and identified the most important components of the process of establishing justice in Ukraine (in particular, the issue of the independence of the judiciary system) and Church’s involvement in the building of civil society institutions. The Department of external relations of the Patriarchal Curia in cooperation with the Commission on laity has launched Association of Catholic lawyers of Ukraine. The first gathering took place on December 17, 2019 in Kyiv, attended by lawyers and experts in the area of government rela- tions, public affairs and public advocacy. The first meeting of the association began with the Divine Liturgy presided over by Bishop Bohdan Dzurakh, Secretary of the UGCC Synod of Bishops. The members of the Association have set the goals of this professional group and their involve- ment in building of a civil society in Ukraine as well as lobbying for Christian values in the Ukrainian legal field. Justice and Peace Commission The UGCC commission on Justice and Peace of the UGCC Patriarchal Curia has established in 2016 a special Center to combat corruption in our society. The aim of the center was to help combat cor- ruption in Ukrainian society by engaging church leaders and church communities, including clergy, members of monastic orders and congregations, lay communities and a broader range of community leaders. The employees of the Center helped to raise awareness and enhance the expertise of priests, seminarians, members of monastic communities and congregations of the UGCC in Ukraine and local leaders, in particular regarding the moral and ethical assessment of this phenomenon. The Center also seeks to disseminate to the faithful of the UGCC and all people of goodwill information regarding the evil nature of corruption that occurs in daily personal and professional life. Another important element of the Center’s efforts was to promote the better administration of church structures placing them as examples of transparent administrative institutions.