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International sympathy for Ukraine

CONSULTATIONS HELD IN LONDON ON HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN DONBASS

Institute of Religious Liberty, 5 May 2015

 

Church leaders, scholars, and experts from Ukraine, Russia, Great Britain, USA, and countries of the European Union held consultations in London on questions of overcoming the humanitarian crisis and religious persecution in the Donbass.

 

The meeting was held on 28 April 2015 in the residence of the archbishop of Canterbury in cooperation with BMS World Mission (Great Britain) and Mission Eurasia (USA), the Institute of Religious Liberty reports.

 

In the course of four sessions, problems of the growing humanitarian crisis and increasing religious persecution in the region of eastern Ukraine, occupied by pro-Russian separatists with Russian military support, were discussed. Speakers explored various aspects connected with the conflict: for example, the concept of the "Russian World" which is used by several ideologues as a driving force of the current crisis in the Donbass, as well as the reaction of Christians to the threat to human rights in conditions of armed conflict.

 

The meeting also included a lively open discussion. Participants issued a call for reconciliation between ministers of churches from Russia and Ukraine on the basis of principles of Christian unity.

 

The consultations concluded with the adoption and signing of a joint document. The resolution of the London meeting calls the world Christian community and humanitarian institutions to look into what is happening in Ukraine in order to develop concrete responses to support the Ukrainian people.

 

The resolution condemns use "of force and the aggression of the pro-Russian separatists" and religious persecution of believers of those churches that are not associated with the Moscow patriarchate.

 

"There cannot be peace where there is falsehood," the senior bishop of the Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith of Ukraine, Mikhail Panochko, emphasized. He said "reconciliation begins when the flame has already been quenched. So long as tanks, soldiers, and falsehood are trying to seize territory of Ukraine, there cannot be any reconciliation."

 

UPTs Archbishop Evstraty of the Kiev patriarchate noted that there is not any civil war in Ukraine but there are "an aggressor and a victim." He expressed the conviction that Russia is conducting "a holy war under the slogans of the 'Russian World' against so-called atheists and the decadent West."

 

In the opinion of the director of the Institute of Religious Liberty, Alexander Zaits, "it is necessary to activate nongovernmental mechanisms for monitoring the religious situation in Crimea and the Donbass with the goal of objective informing of society and international structures about the real situation concerning religious rights in these territories for providing political, financial, and other support to initiatives directed to the protection of the rights of believers and preventing religious persecution."

 

The vice-president of the "Spiritual Regeneration" association, Mikhail Cherenkov, considers that "events in Ukraine are not only occasion for concern but also a strong challenge for Christian solidarity, whose avoidance would mean betrayal of evangelical principles. Solidarity with the victims, protection of religious liberty, and restoration of peace are both a requirement and the possibility for participation."

 

Upon the signing of the resolution, the global ambassador of the BMS mission, Bishop David Coffee, taking Russian Bishop Yuri Sipko and Ukrainian Bishop Mikhail Panochko by the hand, prayed for peace in Ukraine, each in his own native language. The symbolism of such a prayer is that participants in the meeting hope to bear the fruits of solidarity, justice, and reconciliation.

 

As IRL reported, in September 2014 in Oslo there were consultations of representatives of religious organization of Ukraine and Russia with the goal of working out an objective view of the events in Ukraine and providing help to victims of military actions. (tr. by PDS, posted 7 May 2015)


[Ed. note:  The full text of the resolution is available here.]


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