The World Council of Churches has addressed the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, in connection with a possible vote by the Verkhovna Rada to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. About it writes strana.today.

The letter, which was signed by Peter Pruve, director of the WCC Commission of Churches on International Affairs, says that the bill No. 8371 “threatens to explode social unity in Ukraine, especially at a time when this unity is critically needed in the face of external threats to Ukraine’s sovereignty. Banning or otherwise collectively punishing the UOC as a whole, without clear and public evidence that the church itself poses a real threat to Ukraine’s national security, would, in our view, be a deeply divisive and counterproductive endeavor. If passed in its current form, this law could be used in ways that violate international norms of freedom of faith or belief.”

“For these reasons, we call for a fundamental rethinking of this measure and, at a minimum, significant revisions to address its shortcomings in line with Ukraine’s constitutional obligations, its national interests in unity and social cohesion, and its international commitments”, – the World Council of Churches said in a statement.