The vicariate of the UOC-KP in the USA and Canada appealed to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy regarding the illegal withdrawal from the state registration of the Kyiv Patriarchate. The text of the appeal was published on the official website of the Kyiv Patriarchate.
The Diaspora of the UOC-KP “on behalf of 20 million Ukrainians” living abroad, reminded the head of the Ukrainian state “about the insignificant decision of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine”. The Ministry deregistered the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate from the state registration, “more than two years of epic in Ukrainian courts, where we are trying to prove the illegality actions of state institutions in relation to the Kyiv Patriarchate”.
In addition, according to the authors of the appeal, “the government of the United States of America, wishing to untie the Gordian knot, on April 31, 2021 officially registered the charter of the Vicariate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate in the USA and Canada. This event testifies to the fact that the United States de facto recognizes the illegality of the liquidation of the Kyiv Patriarchate in Ukraine.”
The Vicariate of Filaret asks to assist in the return of the state registration of the UOC-KP, which she had before January 30, 2019.
“If the authorities continue to ignore our legitimate demand, we, believers of the Kyiv Patriarchate in the United States, begin collecting signatures on a statement to the US Congress on religious persecution in Ukraine. The result of such an appeal may be the Act on Religious Persecution in Ukraine and enrollment in countries with a totalitarian system of government. We believe that such negative conclusions of the congressmen can significantly reduce the rating of Ukraine on the world map,” warn the authors of the appeal.