Synod of UOC to the President: Stop the split of society along religious lines

Synod of the UOC adopted an appeal to President Zelenskyy. Photo: news.church.ua

On December 20, 2022, a meeting of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was held in Feofaniya (Kyiv). As a result, an open appeal of the Synod to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy was adopted. The text of the appeal is published on the website of the UOC.

Recalling the huge, system-forming role of the UOC in the building of the Ukrainian state, the Synod emphasized that with the beginning of the invasion of the Russian Federation into the territory of Ukraine, the UOC "was the first among other religious organizations to strongly condemn this military aggression and express its unconditional support for the territorial integrity of our Motherland. The UOC has been continually providing assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and civilians affected by the war."

However, this did not prevent the flurry of slander and baseless accusations from falling upon the UOC. “The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is still deliberately called 'Russian' and 'Moscow', while its believers, who are citizens of Ukraine, are unreasonably considered enemies just for belonging to this Church,” the appeal says.

The Synod recalled the bills directed against the UOC, which are being prepared for adoption by the Verkhovna Rada. “These draft laws do not comply with international law and the Constitution of Ukraine, establish limitations for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and advantages for other denominations, thereby violating the principle of equality of religious organizations, and are aimed at discrimination against believing citizens of Ukraine and the elimination of the UOC,” the appeal noted.

The UOC also spoke out against personal sanctions illegally imposed against clergy.

Finally, the apogee of the persecution of the Church was a blasphemous episode, produced by the Quarter 95 show pproject, due to which the leadership of the UOC went to court and demanded an apology from the 1 + 1 TV channel.

“Today our State, more than ever, needs God's help. Public desecration of God is unacceptable,” the appeal stressed.

The Synod stated that the organized persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is reminiscent of the Bolshevik methods of the 20th century, which are unacceptable in a democratic country.

“True de-communization should take place in the sphere of human consciousness... In no case should one wage war against God, because this is the path to self-destruction,” the UOC recalled.

Addressing the President of Ukraine as the guarantor of the Constitution, the Synod asked him to ensure the right to freedom of conscience and religion for believers of the UOC, to protect society from hate speech and intolerance, to stop inciting religious hatred, to unblock the activities of religious organizations and archpastors that fell under sanctions, and to prevent the adoption of anti-constitutional laws against the Church.

“We hope that you will be able to prevent the artificial split of the Ukrainian people along religious lines, which is vital in the face of external aggression. Let the spiritual values that we profess and defend really come true, and their implementation be a real measure of our national maturity,” the address concludes.

As the UOJ wrote, the UOC announced the amount of assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the IDPs.

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