U.S. Senator tells pranksters why persecuting the UOC is not advisable

U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom. Photo: video screenshot

Sam Brownback, US Senator and US Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, in a conversation with a prankster who pretended to be the leader of "European Solidarity" Petro Poroshenko, discussed the Ukrainian church issue.

When asked by the prankster about the attitude of representatives of the Ukrainian administration, who came to the United States for the summit on international religious freedom, to the religious crisis, Sam Brownback replied that closing down churches would only worsen the situation.

They (representatives of the Ukrainian administration – Ed.) are concerned that "you are not doing something that spikes this concern, like closing down the Lavra or closing down churches affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate."

In Brownback's opinion, this only exacerbates the situation and gives Moscow a negotiating advantage and a firm argument that Ukraine is persecuting its believers. 

Answering the question regarding the future fate of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the U.S. Ambassador said, "I'd push back and leave it open and watch it very carefully and closely. For this is the mother church of Orthodoxy. This is where it all started. And you will give a big momentum to the Russians if you shut it down. I would just watch it very closely, but I wouldn't shut it down."

In response to the objections from the prankster on behalf of Petro Poroshenko that UOC priests have ties to the ROC, Brownback warned him: "If they commit treasonous acts, they should be arrested." But then he corrected himself saying that he wouldn't arrest them just because they have this connection, without sufficient evidence.

"I think if you do that, you will give a religious momentum to Moscow <...> (to pursue this war against Ukraine – Ed)," he said.

As the UOJ reported, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom appealed to the OSCE over the situation with the UOC.

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