Calls grow in U.S. to repeal law against UOC and free Metropolitan Arseniy

Catherine Whiteford's speech at the U.S. Congress building. Photo: UOJ

On December 16, 2025, at a rally outside the U.S. Congress attended by representatives of Orthodox jurisdictions in the United States and by politicians, a keynote address was delivered by Catherine Whiteford, Co-Chair of the National Federation of Young Republicans and Director of Government Relations for the Society of St. John of Shanghai in San Francisco.

“We are not here to speak against the people of Ukraine, who many of us have supported and prayed for throughout this brutal war. Many here today are Ukrainian. Nor are we here to defend Russia. We are not pro-Russia group in any sense of the term,” Catherine Whiteford emphasized.

According to her, the participants gathered for one single reason: “to defend the universal principle of religious liberty and to speak plainly when that principle is abandoned – even by governments we otherwise support.”

A law that drives the Church underground

Catherine Whiteford recalled that in August 2024 Ukraine adopted Law No. 3894, which in effect abolishes the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the country’s oldest and largest Christian denomination, with a history spanning more than a thousand years.

“The law dissolves the Church’s legal status, strips parishes and monasteries of property rights, and criminalizes religious activity. In 2025, the government began enforcing it. Legal experts warn that this will lead to the rapid liquidation of the Church,” she said.

“This is not about security, it is not about reform. Its effect and its purpose are to drive an entire Church underground,” Whiteford stressed.

Metropolitan Arseniy in prison for 18 months

The speaker cited concrete examples of persecution of the UOC: “Clergy have been detained and pressed to serve on the front lines. Metropolitan Arseniy has been in prison for more than 18 months and denied life-saving medical care. Metropolitan Onuphry, the 80-year-old Primate of the Church and a native of Ukraine, has had his citizenship revoked by order of President Zelensky.”

“Churches and monasteries have been seized, often violently, in front of parishioners and their families, while police stand by and watch. Parishioners are now worshiping in basements, apartments, and even here they are hunted by security services and a hostile press,” Catherine Whiteford noted.

“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 emphasized.

International concern

Whiteford recalled that international concern over the persecution of the UOC has been broad and unequivocal – expressed by the United Nations, the U.S. Mission to the OSCE, human rights organizations, Christian churches around the world, and Pope Francis himself, who stated: “Let no Christian Church be abolished.”

“Ukraine’s survival matters, its sovereignty matters, but a nation cannot defend freedom while abolishing it at the same time. Religious freedom is not a luxury to be suspended during wartime. If anything, wartime is when it is needed most,” the speaker said.

Specific demands

Catherine Whiteford outlined specific demands to the Ukrainian authorities:

– Suspend and repeal Law No. 3894.
– Demand the immediate release of Metropolitan Arseniy and an end to the imprisonment of clergy.
– Insist that Ukraine honor its constitutional and international obligations on religious freedom, with real accountability measures enacted.

“If Ukraine is to one day join the European Union, if it wants to remain aligned with the democratic worlds, if it hopes to retain moral authority and seeks from its allies, then it must protect the rights of millions of its people to worship in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” Catherine Whiteford stated.

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

Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, what is happening to the UOC is a blatant example of the ongoing persecution of Christians.

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