Yelensky informs UCCRO about clergy exemptions
Viktor Yelensky. Photo: DESS website
On March 18, 2025, Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), held a working meeting with members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO), reports the DESS website.
According to the report, “the key topic of discussion was the implementation of Government Resolution No. 76 of January 27, 2023, regarding the exemption of conscripted individuals, particularly clergy, in the context of mobilization.”
It is emphasized that the head of DESS “provided clarifications on this issue,” though the specifics of his explanations were not disclosed.
Additionally, Yelensky discussed border-crossing regulations for clergy with UCCRO members, as well as “the implementation of believers’ right to freedom of religion in accordance with Part Four of Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine.” However, the details of what this entailed were not revealed in the report.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that Yelensky was reappointed as the head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics.
Read also
Pope supports persecuted journalists
The newly elected Pontiff also called for the release of media professionals imprisoned for telling the truth.
Pope Leo urges media not to sow hatred
"We must say 'no' to the war of words and images, rejecting the paradigm of war," the Pontiff declared.
Shevchuk hopes that Pope Leo will not listen to "slanderers" of UGCC
Sviatoslav Shevchuk stated that Pope Leo should form his position on Ukraine based on what he hears from the UGCC.
Thousands of believers in Pochaiv honor the memory of Venerable Amfilochius
Metropolitan Volodymyr congratulated all the clergy and believers on the day of remembrance of Venerable Amfilochius and thanked everyone for their collective prayer.
Court postpones hearing on Upper Lavra to May 21
During the hearings, the judge rejected the monks' petition to participate in the case as a third party.
MP: We spent a long time explaining to the US why the UOC should be banned
Poturaev assured that the law banning the UOC "not only does not restrict but guarantees the realization of the rights and freedoms of religious organizations, without exception."