Anti-Church bills have no analogues in the civilized world, - Appeal of the Bulgarian Church

Churches and the world community continue to express concern about the possible adoption of anti-church bills № 4511 and № 4128. The Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is concerned about the promotion of anti-church bills in Ukrainian legislation, reports the Information and Education Department of the UOC.

On June 9, Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte on behalf of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church sent a letter to the President of Ukraine P. A. Poroshenko and the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy, in which he expresses his deep concern over the consideration of bills № 4128 and № 4511 by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

In the letter, a copy of which came to the Kiev Metropolis of the UOC, stated that the hierarchy of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church are following with great anxiety the current state of interconfessional relations in Ukraine, and most disconcerting for them is the violent seizure of Ukrainian Orthodox Church churches.

"We consider that the proposed changes are discriminatory – they obviously violate the equality of religious organizations of Ukraine before the Law and give the fate of parishes to outsiders, creating a legal basis for seizure by schismatics and extremists of the churches of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church," reads the official letter , a copy of which was sent to the Department of External Church Relations of the UOC.

At the same time, the Holy Primate of the Bulgarian Church stressed that such legislative initiatives are "extremely dangerous for fragile interreligious accord" in our country and stressed that the proposed amendments to the legislation of Ukraine "have no analogues in the modern civilized world".

His Holiness assured that the believers of the Bulgarian Church, including citizens of not only Bulgaria, but also many other countries of the world, the mentioned bills "cause surprise and indignation, as they contradict the principle of non-interference of the state in the affairs of the Church and create prerequisites for a grave violation of the rights of believers".

Patriarch Neophyte assured the "Orthodox brotherhood of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church" of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church’s full support and urged the President of Ukraine and the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine "to show political wisdom and use their power to help the speedy withdrawal of discriminatory bills from the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine."