Media war of Ministry of Culture against UOC incites religious hatred in the country

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is concerned about attempts to deploy a media campaign against the largest denomination in Ukraine and see this as a danger of violating the internal peace in the country, reports UNIAN citing the UOC Information Center.

According to the head of the Synodal Legal Department of the UOC, Archpriest Alexander Bakhov, the deliberate formation of negative public opinion towards the denomination began actively after the absence of representatives of the Ministry of Culture in the court, where the issue of lengthy non-registration of statutes was heard.

This refers to the speech of the Director of the Department for Religions and Nationalities of the Ministry of Culture Andrei Yurash on the last day of February on one of the central television channels, during which a negative thesis was voiced: "The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has sued the state of Ukraine."

"It remains strange for me that the Ministry of Culture resorted to such remedies: they did not come to court, but ran to TV channels to prove their case, trying to move this case from the legal into the socio-political realm. Or they have nothing to say in court? The UOC went to court for the protection of its rights in order to appeal against the inaction of the Ministry of Culture, because since 2014 they have not registered the statutes of dioceses and monasteries, trying to impose their vision of church life in the UOC," said Alexander Bakhov.

The head of the Legal Department thinks that "an active campaign of the Ministry of Culture against the UOC with the use of manipulative technologies in the media can disrupt the internal peace in the state and lead to religious hostility."

"The Church is, first and foremost, people. In his speeches, Mr. Yurash, justifying the inaction of the Ministry of Culture, is trying to create a negative image of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, whose believers are millions of Ukrainian citizens, and also oppose the UOC to the society and the Ukrainian state, which can lead to internal conflict and cause confrontation within the country," believes the head of the Legal Department.

Alexander Bakhov explains that "believers concerned about the seizures of the UOC churches are ready to protect themselves against all attempts to interfere in the life of religious communities and restrictions on their rights to freedom of religion."

"God forbid, to encourage believers to be forced to prove this. Who will take responsibility for inciting religious hatred or affect the will of millions of people who will stand up for their rights? And who will take responsibility for the consequences of the new division of society on religious ground which today is deliberately laid at the state level? Is the Ministry of Culture aimed to set Ukrainians against each other in our already turbulent society? "- said Alexander Bakhov.

In the view of the head of the UOC Legal Department, "now the Ministry of Culture is questioning not only the right of the UOC to appeal to court but the very decision of the court if it is taken in favour of the UOC."

As reported by the UOJ, representatives of the Ministry of Culture did not respond to the claim of the UOC in court and went to television. Recently, the director of the Department for Religions and Nationalities Andrei Yurash appeared on the air of Channel 5 and 1 + 1, where he complained about the actions of the canonical Church.

On February 22, 2017, the District Administrative Court of Kiev held the first court hearing on the suit of the UOC to the Ministry of Culture regarding the non-registration of statutes. Representatives of the Ministry of Culture did not appear at the court hearing and filed no objections to the claim in court. Meanwhile, the court is hearing the case on the basis of the evidence presented.