U.S. politician voices demands to protect UOC

Catherine Whiteford and Anna Paulina Luna. Photo: uoj.news

On December 16, 2025, Catherine Whiteford, leader of the youth wing of the U.S. Republican Party and a representative of the Society of St. John of Shanghai, announced a set of demands in defense of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) during a rally held near the White House.

Catherine Whiteford stated that discussing the current situation is necessary and should not be framed in geopolitical terms, but rather grounded in principles of human dignity and religious freedom.

According to her, the Society of St. John came to Washington not to oppose the people of Ukraine. She emphasized that the issue concerns the same people whom many have supported and prayed for throughout the brutal war. Whiteford also noted that among the Orthodox Christians present at the rally were many Ukrainians.

“Nor are we here to defend Russia – we are not a pro-Russia group in any sense of the term,” she said. “We are for one reason only – to defend the universal principle of religious liberty and to speak plainly when that principle is abandoned, even by governments we otherwise support.”

Drawing attention to Law No. 3894, which effectively dismantles Ukraine’s largest and oldest denomination – the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Whiteford said that the purpose and consequences of this law are to drive an entire Church underground.

She recalled that UOC clergy are being detained and sent to the front, that Metropolitan Arseniy has been imprisoned for more than 18 months and urgently requires medical care, and that the 80-year-old Primate of the UOC, Metropolitan Onufriy, a native of Ukraine, was stripped of his citizenship by decree of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

At the same time, what is particularly alarming for American citizens, she said, is that churches and monasteries are being seized, often with the use of violence, while police stand by and observe without intervening.

According to Whiteford, believers are forced to pray in basements and private apartments, yet even there they are subjected to persecution by security services and hostile media outlets.

“I want to remind you that we are not speaking of North Korea or China here – this is happening in a country the United States considers an ally,” she stressed.

Whiteford also noted that the United Nations, human rights organizations, and Christian churches around the world have condemned Law No. 3894 as a gross violation of religious freedom.

“A nation cannot defend freedom while abolishing it at the same time,” Whiteford said. “Religious freedom is not a luxury to be suspended during wartime. If anything, wartime is when it is needed most.”

In this context, Whiteford outlined the demands of the Society of St. John to the U.S. government, urging that they be taken into account in future policy.

Specifically, the organization demands the suspension and repeal of Law No. 3894; immediate efforts to secure the release of Metropolitan Arseniy and an end to the forced mobilization of clergy; and insistence that Ukraine fulfill its constitutional and international obligations on religious freedom, with real accountability mechanisms.

“Faith is not a crime, tradition is not treason, and religious freedom is not optional,” she concluded.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that a U.S. congresswoman had called for ending support to countries that persecute Christians.

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