UOC spokesman: We should speak openly of increased religious confrontation

A working meeting with the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine was held at the request of the AUCCRO

The religious policy of the current government not only has failed to bring unity, peace and calm to believers but further aggravated the religious contradictions in the country. Seizures of temples, beatings of believers, the expulsion of Orthodox communities from churches, which then have to pray and hold services in private houses and other temporarily adapted premises – this issue should be spoken about openly, without unnecessary diplomacy, since thousands of people suffer. The deputy head of the UOC DECR Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich said this during a working meeting of the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine with members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (AUCCRO), which took place on March 15, 2019, reports the UOC Synodal Department for External Church Relations.

The subject of the meeting, which was held at the request of the AUCCRO, was public order maintenance in the territories of religious communities and prevention of provocations and incitement of religious hatred by law enforcement agencies.

After the words of the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Tatiana Kovalchuk, that “the Interior Ministry and the National Police make the utmost effort to maintain calm in the territory of religious communities”, and also protect the interests of everyone, regardless of religious or religious affiliation, the UOC spokesperson noted that representatives of the National Police not always carry out their duties properly.

In his speech, Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich gave specific examples of the beating of believers and seizures of churches, when the police passively watched the cutting of locks, talked about the intervention of public servants in church affairs, about multiple offenses that can no longer be explained by "peaceful transfers".

“We should speak openly about this problem, without unnecessary diplomacy since thousands of people suffer. Otherwise, if there were peace in the country in this sphere, this meeting would be unnecessary,” the UOC representative said.

At the same time, he referred to the explanatory note of the National Police in the Vinnitsa region, published on January 28, 2019, that the church-related decisions made at a meeting of territorial communities are illegal and cannot be implemented, as one of the positive steps of the agency.

“This step of the National Police has become widely known in the church environment of Ukraine and for some time in some regions has become a definite guard against radical actions against the churches of the UOC. However, today the situation has deteriorated again,” the priest emphasized.

In turn, the head of the National Police Konstantin Bushuev reminded those present that the only authorized body which has the right to use force is the National Police.

“In our activities, we are guided solely by the provisions of the law. None of the cases of conflict situations will be left out. 140 thousand employees of the National Police are those who serve near cult religious buildings. We will not allow any escalation of conflicts,” he assured, adding that at the moment there are 23 criminal proceedings related to violations in the religious sphere throughout Ukraine.

As the UOJ reported, earlier, during a meeting of the AUCCRO with the presidential candidate Yulia Timoshenko, representatives of the UOC spoke about the systematic violation of the rights of believers of the canonical Church.

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