Patriarch calls on the entire world to stand up against anti-church laws in Ukraine

Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus Kirill called on the participants of “Norman Four”, religious actors and the international community to impede the adoption in Ukraine of draft laws ##4128 and 4511. According to the Patriarch, they lurk a threat of “flagrant violations of the human right to freedom of religion”, reports the Department for External Church Relations of the ROC.

If Ukrainian MPs vote for draft laws ##4128 and 4511, it will legalize “an unprecedented for contemporary Europe discriminatory juridical practice with regard to the majority of Orthodox population in Ukraine”, says the Patriarch’s Address. Such a restrictive religious legislation was not even applied in Ukraine during the Communist rule, while the rest of Europe had something similar only at the times of the Nazi regime in Germany.

“By the available information, over the time period of 2014-2016 years right radical groups seized illegally over 40 temples of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church across Ukraine,” reminds the Patriarch. “A formal ground for such raiding is the so called “referendum” of residents of a village who make a decision on “transition” of a religious community. The opinion of actual founders and members of the community as a legal entity is not taken into account in such cases.”

The Address has been sent to President of Ukraine P. Poroshenko, President of Russia V. Putin, President of France E. Macron, Chancellor of Germany A. Merkel, Primates of Local Churches, Pope Francis, UN Secretary General A. Guterres and Secretary General of the World Council of Churches O. Fykse Tveit.