RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS


Conflicting reports about Vatican action regarding Ukraine

UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR SUMMONED TO POPE BECAUSE OF "CHURCH LAWS"

RIA Novosti, 19 May 2017

 

The Ukrainian ambassador to the Vatican was summoned to the Roman pope because of the controversial draft laws directed against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow patriarchate (UPTsMP), a cleric of the UPTsMP, Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, reported.

 

"The Vatican is concerned about the possibility of the adoption of 4128 and 4511 (laws against the UPTsMP—ed. note). Our Ukrainian ambassador to the Vatican was summoned. The Vatican is completely in agreement with the position expressed by the Roman Catholic Bishop Stanislav Shirokoradiuk on this topic," he wrote in Facebook.

 

Earlier, the bishop of the Kharkov-Zaorozhe diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, Stanislav Shirokoradiuk, criticized these laws.

 

Yesterday the Rada planned to discuss two drafts about the status of religious organizations. One of them provides that organizations whose administrative centers are located in a state considered by Ukraine to be "an aggressor state" will be able to appoint metropolitans and bishops only in consultation with the government. The second may give the right to parishioners to change the jurisdiction of religious societies whose centers are functioning in Ukraine and beyond its borders. The UPTsMP considers that the documents are repressive and is concerned that they will legalize the seizures of church buildings.

 

The parliament did not manage to consider the draft laws on Thursday.

 

Earlier the Kremlin called any actions that violate the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine impermissible. . . . (tr. by PDS, posted 19 May 2017)

 

KIEV DENIES REPORT ABOUT SUMMONS OF VATICAN AMBASSADOR BECAUSE OF "CHURCH LAWS"

RIA Novosti, 19 May 2017

 

The meetings of Tatiana Izhevskaia, the Ukrainian ambassador to the Vatican, were working meetings and there was no criticism of the so-called "church draft laws," the publication Ukrainiskaia Pravda reports, citing a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mariana Betsa.

 

Earlier, a cleric of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow patriarchate, Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, reported that the Ukrainian ambassador to the Vatican was summoned to the Roman pope because of the controversial draft laws regarding the status of religious organizations that are directed against the UPTsMP.

 

"The report about the summons of the ambassador does not correspond with reality. Nobody summoned her. She had a number of working meetings in the State Secretariat of the Vatican, where they discussed various issues of domestic and foreign policy. Among them, these draft laws were discussed in these meetings. There was no criticism on the part of the Vatican," Betsa said.

 

Yesterday the Rada planned to discuss two drafts about the status of religious organizations.

 

One of them provides that organizations whose administrative centers are located in a state considered by Ukraine to be "an aggressor state" will be able to appoint metropolitans and bishops only in consultation with the government. The second may give the right to parishioners to change the jurisdiction of religious societies whose center function in Ukraine and beyond its borders. The UPTsMP considers these documents to be repressive and is concerned that they will legalize seizures of churches.

 

The parliament did not manage to consider the draft laws on Thursday.

 

The Kremlin called any actions violating the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine impermissible. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 May 2017)

 

KREMLIN DECLARES VIOLATION OF INTERESTS OF RUSSIAN CHURCH IN UKRAINE IMPERMISSIBLE

Interfax-Religiia, 18 May 2017

 

The press secretary of the president of the RF, Dmitry Peskov, called actions leading to violations of the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine impermissible.

 

During a discussion with journalists on Thursday, they reminded D. Peskov that consideration of a draft law on the status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow patriarchate had been postponed in the Verkhovna Rada. In connection with this they asked him how the Kremlin regards this document and whether the Kremlin will intervene in the situation in the event it were to be adopted.

 

"Certainly this is an extremely painful matter for parishioners of the Russian Orthodox Church and, certainly, we will consider any actions that would violate the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine to be impermissible," D. Peskov said. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 May 2017)


 

UKRAINIAN VERKHOVNA RADA DOES NOT PLAN TO CONSIDER "CHURCH" DRAFT LAWS THAT PROVOKED PATRIARCH KIRILL'S ANGER

Portal-Credo.Ru, 18 May 2017

 

Draft laws regarding the activity of religious organizations will not be considered by the Supreme Soviet of Ukraine, a people's deputy from the fraction "Petro Poroshenko Bloc," Aleksei Goncharenko, told the news agency Interfax-Ukraina.

 

"The fraction made the decision that these draft laws are not ready for consideration in the hall. Therefore they will not be considered today in the hall," Goncharenko said.

 

As reported earlier, draft laws No. 4511 (concerning the special status of religious organizations whose administrative centers are located in a state considered by the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada to be an aggressor) and No. 4128 (concerning the possibility of changing the subordination of a religious community to any religious center) are on the agenda of the parliament for consideration on first reading. Draft law No. 4511 was already rejected last year by the Verkhovna Rada; its initiators prepared a new version of the draft.

 

Representatives of the UPTsMP will conduct on 18 May a demonstration in front of the Verkhovna Rada building as a sign of protest against adopting these laws. On 16 May, Patriarch Kirill sent to heads of churches and states, the United Nations, and the World Council of Churches an extremely emotional letter demanding intervention in the internal affairs of Ukraine and "prevention" of the consideration of the draft law by the Ukrainian parliament. In particular, the letter linked the adoption of these bills with Russia's observance of the Minsk accords dealing with, inter alia, the ceasefire in the Donbass. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 May 2017)

 

APPEAL OF GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES TO UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF THE VERKHOVNA RADA

 

In response to the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus Kirill, the general secretary of the World Council of churches, Pastor Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, sent a letter to Ukrainian President P.A. Poroshenko and the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, A.V. Parubii. The letter says the following:

 

Your Excellency!

 

The commonwealth of the World Council of Churches, the most open and largest ecumenical organization, which counts 348 member churches, representing more than 110 countries and 500 million Christians, is profoundly concerned about the intention of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada to include in the agenda of tomorrow's session draft law No. 4218 "On introducing amendments into the Ukrainian law 'On freedom of conscience and religious organizations'" and also draft law No. 4511 "On the special status of religious organizations whose administrative centers are located in a state considered by the Verkhovna Rada to be an aggressor state."

 

As an ecumenical organization, which in the span of all 70 years of its existence has defended the principle of religious liberty and has opposed any forms of discrimination in all regions of the world, the World Council of Churches considers that the adoption of the aforementioned draft laws would place under threat the principle of freedom of religious confession and the equality of all churches and religious societies in Ukraine, and it may provoke a new wave of tension within Ukrainian society. While highly regarding all efforts of the Ukrainian government for strengthening democracy and improving Ukrainian legislation in order to bring it into line with international standards, we nevertheless are convinced that these two bills run counter to the efforts being made in Ukraine for the development of democracy. We urge that these bills, which are fraught with negative consequences, be withdrawn.

 

With respect,

Pastor Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit

General Secretary,

World Council of Churches

(tr. by PDS, posted 19 May 2017)

 

Russian translation of this letter posted on website of Moscow patriarchate, 19 May 2017


Related article:
Moscow patriarch complains to international leaders about Ukraine
May 17, 2017

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