PATRIARCH KIRILL DESCRIBES INTENSIFICATION OF
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST
UPTs
Discrimination against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in
Ukraine is yet
intensifying and the Russian Orthodox Church is very upset by
this, Patriarch
of Moscow and all-Rus Kirill declared at a meeting with
Patriarch and
Catholicos of all-Arminians Garegin II.
During conversation, the primate of the Russian Orthodox
Church
reported that he wants to inform the Armenian spiritual leader
"about our
very great grief because of the situation that has developed in
fraternal
Ukraine."
"Actually, the situation for the canonical, legal
Ukrainian
Orthodox Church has not become better—just the opposite. It is
amazing that in
a European country, in full view of all of Europe, a country
that declares its
adherence to the European choice so crudely violates human
rights and
liberties. But the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church is today
being
discriminated against and this is a completely evident fact,"
the
patriarch said.
He acknowledged that the interference of Constantinople
in the church
situation in Ukraine "did not help strengthen the unity of
Ukrainian
Orthodoxy and did not resolve a single problem, but created new
problems."
"There arose those problems that weaken pan-Orthodox
unity. We are
very much saddened by this circumstance, but we are not the
initiators of these
negative circumstances," the RPTs primate added.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has previously often reported about oppression of clergy and seizures of church buildings by representatives of noncanonical religious structures. In connection with the recognition of the Ukraine schismatics by the patriarchate of Constantinople, the UPTs has reported about open discrimination and persecution on the part of authorities, members of nationalistic groupings, and schismatic structures, and also about an information campaign against the canonical church in a number of Ukrainian news media. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 April 2019)
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