RELIGIOUS LEADERS OPPOSE IMPOSING IDEOLOGY OF SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIPS ON UKRAINE
Institute of Religious Liberty, 19 November 2015
Representatives of churches and religious organizations have criticized dragging amendments into the labor code that protect sexual minorities, which occurred illegally under pressure from the leadership of the country and European diplomats.
This was reported on 19 November by the head of the Information Office of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev patriarchate, Archbishop Evstraty, at a press conference in the news agency Interfax-Ukraine, the Institute of Religious Liberty reports.
He recalled that the demands of the European Union upon Ukraine as part of the liberalization of visa procedures have been discussed for several years now. At the same time, an amendment prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" was not introduced for extensive discussion and was voted on in the parliament in violation of procedural rules established by law.
Archbishop Evstraty is sure that the purpose of the adoption of this amendment to the labor code is the introduction into the juridical sphere of Ukraine of the terms "sexual orientation" and "gender identity," so that in the future same-sex relationships will be legalized and criticism of nontraditional sexual orientation and people who advocate it will be prohibited.
"Churches and religious organizations in Ukraine have categorically spoken out against any kind of discrimination, but they do not consider that one should discriminate against some citizens for the benefit of other citizens when the issue is such things as freedom of speech and of religious confession, which also are some of the fundamental human rights," the archbishop noted.
The director of the Department of External Relations of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Father Oleksa Petriv, emphasized that homosexuality is alien to Ukrainian culture. "We urge people to realize what is happening and not to permit propaganda of that which is not characteristic of our Ukrainian culture," the priest said.
The vice-chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (united with the Moscow patriarchate), Father Nikolai Danilevich, noted that the church in Ukraine has spoken against the propaganda of homosexuality, which these antidiscriminatory amendments could lead to. "We are not for discrimination; we are against propaganda of a way of life that has already come out on the legislative level," he noted.
A representative of the chairman of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, the deputy of the senior bishop of the Ukrainian Christian Evangelical Church, Igor Lukianov, noted that it is necessary to devote more attention to moral values in Ukraine, primarily to issues of the education of youth.
"We appeal to the leadership of the country with a request to devote attention to public morality. This is lacking in western countries, and if we wish to join the European Union then we should bring something into it. And let that be a high level of morality and not the immorality that they promote and impose upon us," the clergyman noted.
"Integration into the EU is a splendid idea, but there are many other means, for example, overcoming corruption and building the economy. Is this really the only factor that is preventing us in this process? I would like to await that moment when the government really will represent the interests of the nation. If we destroy the foundation on which faith in God rests, then how will we be any different from animals?" a representative of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Jewish Religious Communities, David Milman, noted.
Representatives of churches and religious organizations hope that the president of Ukraine will veto bill No. 3442 because of the gross violations of legislative procedure in its consideration.
"We do not think that this bill was adopted by democratic means. We understand that from a political point of view the president will most likely sign it, but until he signs the hope remains that it will not be done," declared Archbishop Evstraty. (tr. by PDS, posted 20 November 2015)
Editorial disclaimer: RRN does
not intend to certify the accuracy of information
presented in articles. RRN simply intends to certify the
accuracy of the English translation of the contents of the
articles as they appeared in news media of countries of
the former USSR.
If material is quoted, please give credit to the
publication from which it came. It is not necessary to credit
this Web page. If material is transmitted electronically, please
include reference to the URL,
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.