UCCRO complains to World Council of Churches about seizure of UGCC church

An online meeting between UCCRO and the World Council of Churches. Photo: UCCRO press service

On April 20, 2026, representatives of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations held an online meeting with the leadership of the World Council of Churches.

Representing the international body in the dialogue was WCC General Secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, while the Ukrainian side was represented by the presiding UCCRO chairman, Bishop Oleksandr Zán-Fábián of the Transcarpathian Reformed Church.

During the conversation, the Ukrainian side informed its foreign counterparts about new cases of “religious persecution” in territories currently not controlled by Kyiv.

In particular, council members reported that local authorities had seized a church of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Zaporizhzhia region, along with other alleged instances of persecution.

The participants stressed the importance of direct communication between the WCC and Ukrainian confessions in order to ensure an objective presentation of the situation in Ukraine and the work of the churches under wartime conditions. The sides also discussed practical aspects of a possible solidarity visit to Ukraine by a delegation of the World Council of Churches and agreed to hold a global prayer for a “just peace.”

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the UGCC had said “Russians” seized a church in Tokmak.

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