Yelensky calls for ROC to be expelled from World Council of Churches

Head of DESS. Photo: DESS

On May 28, Viktor Yelensky, head of Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), called for the Russian Orthodox Church to be expelled from the World Council of Churches and for sanctions against ROC representatives who support Russia’s war against Ukraine to be expanded. He made the statement at a seminar hosted by the French research center Collège des Bernardins, according to DESS.

According to Yelensky, sanctions should apply not only to Patriarch Kirill, but also to ROC bishops and clerics who, in his view, support the war, cooperate with Russian armed formations, or act in Russia’s interests beyond its borders.

The DESS head also claimed that the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church allegedly contradict the fundamental principles of Christianity. In this connection, he said the World Council of Churches should consider removing the ROC from its membership.

Speaking at the seminar, Yelensky also addressed Ukrainian legislation on religious organizations. He said the law on protecting the constitutional order in the field of religious organizations’ activity complies with democratic principles and does not restrict freedom of religion.

The DESS head also stressed that Ukraine does not intend to impose harsh restrictions on UOC clergy and believers. At the same time, he called the Moscow Patriarchate an opponent of religious freedom and Ukrainian statehood.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the head of DESS had said where faith is now being persecuted “worse than in the USSR.”

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