Renovabis foundation head: Ban on UOC will hinder Ukraine's path to EU
Photo: Thomas Schwartz, General Director of Renovabis. Source: KNA, Dieter Mayr
The head of the German organization for aid to Eastern Europe, Pastor Professor Thomas Schwartz, calls for the protection of freedom of religion in Ukraine. According to the foundation's website, "Renovabis criticizes ongoing attempts in the Ukrainian parliament to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church" and warns of the consequences of passing the law to ban the UOC.
"You cannot punish an entire Church with all its believers as traitors to their Ukrainian homeland," he notes.
He believes that neither all hierarchs nor the entire Church community should be equated with Russian aggressors, even if individual cases of state treason by UOC representatives are confirmed and legally proven.
"Such a legislative step by the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, could also complicate the path to the European Union and would be a significant burden for coexistence in Ukrainian society," underscores Professor Schwartz.
The General Director of Renovabis considers the deliberate ban on an entire Church unjustified and counterproductive. In his opinion, it would also play into the hands of Russian military propaganda.
As previously reported by the UOJ, a member of the British Parliament also opposed the bill 8371.
Read also
Shell hits UOC church in Kherson, rector’s wife injured
As a result of shelling, a side chapel was destroyed and the church dome was damaged at the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Kherson. There are also injured.
OCU accuses UOC-KP members of “crimes against canonical order”
The leadership of the OCU has asserted its exclusive right to the Kyiv Patriarchate brand and threatened punishment against Nikodym Kobzar and his associates.
Moldovan bishop tells UN of pressure on the Church
Speaking at the UN, Archbishop Markell said the authorities are putting pressure on the Orthodox Church of Moldova and threatening the seizure of churches.
UOC clergy deliver aid to frontline monasteries and parishes
Clergy of the Kyiv Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church delivered aid to frontline monasteries and parishes that provide daily support to refugees and the needy.
Vinnytsia region bans religious processions and pilgrimages until December
Vinnytsia’s Defense Council has imposed strict restrictions on believers ahead of the Easter holidays.
Nicaraguan authorities release 1,200 prisoners for Holy Week
In Nicaragua, more than a thousand inmates were released from prison during Holy Week and sent home under a “family cohabitation” regime, with an appeal to begin a “new life.”