Tulchyn bishop joins human rights group to defend the rights of UOC

Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchyn and Bratslav. Photo: tulchin-eparchia.org.ua

Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchyn and Bratslav, who was convicted by the Vinnytsia court, has joined an international human rights group that will defend the rights of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This was reported by the press service of the Tulchyn Eparchy of the UOC.

As the UOJ wrote, this human rights structure is being created on the initiative of Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv, who received the status of UN human rights defender.

The Tulchyn bishop confirmed his agreement in principle to participate in the work of the group during his visit to Metropolitan Theodosiy, who is under 24-hour house arrest.

According to the press service of the Tulchyn diocese, "Metropolitan Jonathan thanked Metropolitan Theodosiy, as a confessor of the Orthodox faith and the canons of the Church, for setting up in Ukraine a human rights non-political international structure to monitor violations of universal religious rights <...> with subsequent reporting of them to the relevant UN and EU structures".

During the meeting, Metropolitan Theodosiy reported on the details of the attack on the Cherkasy Convenrt of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary by OCU militants and spoke "about the very mild manipulative reaction of law enforcement agencies to the said bandit act, which caused serious bodily injuries to the defenders of the sanctuary."

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the court sentenced Metropolitan Jonathan to five years' imprisonment with confiscation of property. Until the sentence comes into force, the bishop is under overnight house arrest.

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