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His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia sent messages
to the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches; Pope Francis; Archbishop
of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the Anglican Communion;
Rev. Dr.
Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches;
Mr. António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General; Mr. Thomas
Greminger, Secretary General of the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe; as well as to H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Macron,
President of France; and H.E. Mrs. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
as heads of the Normandy Four states. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill draw
their attention to the large-scale violations of the rights and freedom
of hierarchs, clergy and laity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
“Recently,
the interference of the leaders of the secular Ukrainian state in
church affairs has grown into a blatant pressure on the episcopate and
clerics of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, what allows us to speak of the
beginning of the large-scale persecutions,” the letter reads, “The
pressure increased because of the refusal of the Ukrainian Orthodox
episcopate to participate in the so-called “unification council” backed
up by the leadership of Ukraine. During this “council” the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church, the largest in the country religious confession uniting
thirteen thousand parishes, over two hundred monasteries and millions
of faithful, is supposed to be replaced by some new religious
organization that is being created by the President of Ukraine Petro
Poroshenko in concert with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.”
As
is stated in the messages sent to the religious leaders, senior
statesmen and heads of international organizations, “in order to force
the episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to participate in this
event, the governmental authorities and law-enforcement agencies of
Ukraine are taking actions flagrantly violating the constitutional
rights and freedoms of the Ukrainian citizens.”
His Holiness
mentions that hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are being
summoned for “talks” and questioning by the Security Service of Ukraine;
they are encountering obstacles when crossing the state border of
Ukraine, are being detained under different pretexts and subjected to
humiliating searches. For instance, on December 9, the Security Service
of Ukraine denied Metropolitan Ilarion of Donetsk, a citizen of Ukraine,
entry into the country, invoking “special instructions from Kiev.”
At
the level of the Government and local authorities attempts are being
made to deprive the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of its legal rights to use
the Kiev Caves and Pochaev Lavras – major holy sites of the Orthodox
Ukraine. “Thus, on November 23, 2018, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine
revoked the decision on the state registration of the right of the
monastic community to use the complex of buildings of the Holy Dormition
Pochaev Lavra. And on November 28, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
revoked its instruction of July 17, 2003, On the Exclusion of the Holy
Dormition Pochaev Lavra from the Kremenets-Pochaev State
Historical-Architectural Reserve. The reserve representatives do not
conceal that in future the monastery can be given for use to another
religious organization. On December 5, the Kremenets-Pochaev Reserve
conducted an inspection of items of church value in the Holy Dormition
Pochaev Lavra,” the letter says.
His Holiness mentions that on
November 28, for the first time in thirty years, a commission of the
Ministry of Culture of Ukraine conducted an inspection of cultural
property in the territory of the Holy Dormition Kiev Caves Lavra. On
November 30, a search was conducted in the territory of a subsidiary
farm of the Kiev Caves Lavra in the village of Voronkov of the Borispol
district, Kiev region. During the search, a number of irregularities in
judicial proceedings occurred.
As it is emphasized in the
messages, attempts are being made to hold bishops and clerics criminally
liable on baseless charges of “high treason” and “incitement to
religious hatred.” In a number of regions in Ukraine massive searches
are being carried out on the premises of diocesan administrations,
churches and places of clergymen’s residence.
For instance, on
December 1, this year, twenty clergymen from the dioceses of Rovno and
Sarny of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Rovno region) were summoned at
the same time for questioning by the Security Service of Ukraine. On
December 3, searches were conducted in cathedrals, diocesan
administrations, churches and even private houses of the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church’s clergymen in the cities of Zhytomir, Ovruch and
Korosten. On December 5, twelve clergymen from the dioceses of Rovno and
Sarny of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were interrogated. As is stated
in the documents, an investigation is being carried out within the
framework of criminal proceedings under Article 111 (“high treason”) and
Article 161 (“incitement to religious hatred”) of the Criminal Code of
Ukraine.
“The state-run mass media continue their massive campaign
aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian Church by publishing confidential
personal data of hierarchs and clergymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church that are at the disposal of the government. In particular,
personal data of a considerable number of bishops of the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church have been published on the Myrotvorets website, along
with the comments stirring up religious hatred,” His Holiness Patriarch
Kirill of Moscow and All Russia says in his letters, pointing out that
this website functioning with the direct support of the Ministry of
Interior of Ukraine “became notoriously famous for publishing personal
data of the Ukrainian, American and European journalists who were after
that subjected to beatings and threats; some of them were even killed.”
His Holiness emphasizes that “despite protests of the American and
European public, the governmental authorities of Ukraine did not close
the Myrotvorets project, and the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior
continues to support it.”
His Holiness notes that “the
high-ranking Ukrainian officials are not averse to making allegations in
public against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, thus inciting
inter-confessional hatred.” For instance, on November 30, 2018, Mr.
Zoryan Shkiryak, adviser to the Ukrainian Minister of Interior, said in
public that Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl, abbot of the
Holy Dormition Kiev Caves Lavra, “is a vampire who hates Ukraine, the
Ukrainians and everything Ukrainian.” Mr. Andriy Parubiy, chairman of
the Verkhovna Rada, also took the liberty of making public insulting and
slanderous allegations against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In
particular, he said in public that clergymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church were instrumental in perpetration of murders of the Ukrainian
citizens.
“The Ukrainian President himself does not make secret
his hostile attitude towards the Church. Mr. Petro Poroshenko publicly
threatened to banish from the country those Ukrainians who do not want
to join the “autocephalous church” which is being created by the
government,” the letters say, “It speaks for itself that the hierarchs
of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church received invitations to the
“unification council” signed by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople
from government officials, while the Constitution of Ukraine stipulates
that “the church and religious organizations in Ukraine are separated
from the state” (Constitution of Ukraine, Article 35), and therefore any
interference of the state in inter-church relations is
unconstitutional.”
“We do not know what steps the authorities of
Ukraine will take next, what actions they can dare to undertake to
achieve their goal in a time left before the presidential elections.
Yet, the numerous facts of discrimination to which the Ukrainian Church
has already been subjected make us fear even more serious infringement
on the rights and freedoms of the Orthodox Christians, their greater
sufferings for remaining faithful to the canonical Orthodoxy,” His
Holiness Patriarch Kirill writes in his letters.
As His Holiness
notes, at its session held on December 7, the Synod of the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church was forced to admit the fact of “baseless criminal
prosecutions” brought by the governmental authorities and “the pressure
put on the episcopate, clergy and laity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
with the view of making them take part in the so-called unification
council.” The Synod rightfully concluded that such actions “violate the
constitutional rights of the citizens of Ukraine to freedom of
religion.”
“In our plain view the governmental authorities of
Ukraine are blatantly interfering in church life, the fundamental human
rights are being violated, and an obvious attempt is being made to use
the Church for political benefits and in the election campaign,” the
letters read.
The Primate of the Russian Church called
upon the religious leaders, senior statesmen and heads of international
organizations to make every effort to protect the episcopate, clergy and
laity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from discrimination and pressure
exerted by the Ukrainian authorities and to defend the freedom of
conscience and religion secured by the international law.
DECR Communication Service
