UCCRO informs U.S. delegation about religious freedom and requested weapons

Meeting of UCCRO with a delegation of leading conservative think tanks and public and religious organizations from the U.S. Photo: irs

On December 4, representatives of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO), during a meeting with a delegation of leading conservative think tanks and public and religious organizations from the United States, discussed the state of religious freedom in Ukraine. According to the irs website, the event took place at the Metropolitan’s House of the National Reserve “St. Sophia of Kyiv” in the capital.

The American delegation was informed about "religious persecutions by the Russian Federation in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and the destruction of religious sites of various denominations by Russian military forces."

AUCCRO members attempted to convince the delegates that only Russia uses methods characteristic of the atheistic communist regime. They did not mention problems within Ukraine.

“My grandfather and father were repressed and persecuted by the Soviet authorities for their faith in God and service to the Church. The 'Russian world' – mutated ideology, which has no place for free people, and sincere Christians, invaded the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. Churches have been confiscated for the needs of the Russian army, services banned, and clergy members murdered. This is the reality that the 'Russian world' brings with it,” said UCCRO member Anatoliy Raychinets during his speech.

Raychinets also, on behalf of those present, requested the U.S. to continue providing military assistance to Ukraine "so that the Ukrainian Defense Forces can protect the lives of children, women, and all people while repelling the aggressor." As a memento of the meeting, the American delegation was gifted an icon painted on boards from ammunition crates from the Avdiivka front. A Bible verse is written on the painting: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

The meeting was attended by Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Olena Kovalska, and First Deputy Chair of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, Viktor Voynalovych.

As reported by the UOJ, Dumenko assured U.S. analysts that Russia seeks to destroy the OCU.

Additionally, an article by a state university professor on the persecution of UOC believers in Ukraine was recently published in the U.S.

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