The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, has sent an appeal to the Primates of the local Orthodox Churches and heads of other religious organizations, in which he described the situation with the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by the Ukrainian government. The Patriarch drew attention to Law No. 8371, which is planned to be adopted in Ukraine in the near future. He noted that this law will lead to a complete ban on the activities of the UOC. This is reported by the website Patriarchy.ru.
“The purpose of the bill is a de facto ban of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as well as facilitating the process of seizure of its temples and property, which is not hidden in their public speeches by the legislators themselves. The persecution of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine is acquiring the features of total anti-religious terror, which includes the closure of churches and monasteries, illegal persecution of clerics and laymen, extrajudicial killings, as well as the closure of information resources that reveal the truth about the persecution,” – Patriarch Kirill emphasized.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church pointed out that “repressions are carried out against those who try to testify about the violation of religious freedom in the international sphere, and are directed in such a way as to suppress any public testimony about religious persecution by the time of the legislative ban of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and thousands of its communities in Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, criminal charges against Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl, vicar of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhya and Melitopol, Metropolitan Theodosius of Cherkasy and Kanev, Metropolitan Longin of Banchensk, and a number of clergy continue to be tried; Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchyn and Bratslav, who was sentenced to five years in prison, is awaiting an appeals court.
“The ever-increasing pressure on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has acquired the character of open religious persecution and compels me again and again to turn to you for support, remembering the words of the Apostle: Whether one member suffers, all members of the Orthodox Church suffer with him (1 Cor. 12:26),” – reads the messages that His Holiness Patriarch Kirill sent, in particular, to the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches.
The messages of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia were sent to His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine, His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia, His Holiness Patriarch Porfiry of Serbia, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania, the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and all Albania, His Beatitude Metropolitan Sava of Warsaw and all Poland, His Beatitude Metropolitan Rostislav of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of all America and Canada, His Beatitude Archbishop Stephen of Ohrid and Macedonia, as well as Pope Francis, Patriarch Tawadros II of the Coptic Church, Archbishop Justin Welby, Head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury, Catholicos of the East and Metropolitan Basil Mar Thomas III of Malankara, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, Catholicos of the Supreme House of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church Aram I, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East Mar Ava III, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East Beshare Butros al-Rai, Secretary General of the World Council of Churches Dr. Jerry Pillay, President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Franklin Graham.
In his addresses to the leaders and representatives of international organizations, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia asked them to “pay attention to the above facts of blatant violation of human rights in Ukraine and make efforts to protect the right to freedom of religion of believers and communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church”.
K. Abdrakhmanov, UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance K.P. Ashwini, UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief Nazila Ghani.
