Differing from Pope, Ukrainian Catholic leader says ban on Moscow-affiliated church protects religious freedom
August 27, 2024
» Continue to this story on Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
CWN Editor's Note: In a statement released in Ukrainian on August 26 and in English on August 27, the head of the Ukranian Greek Catholic defended a law passed by the Ukrainian parliament that effectively outlaws the Moscow-affiliated Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
“The ideology of the ‘Russian world’ discredits the Christian message in the eyes and conscience of the modern man,” said Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk. “This week we have witnessed that the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law aimed at protecting freedom of religion in Ukraine from this type of manipulation by the aggressor state.”
The prelate added:
During the war, we must do everything possible to prevent the aggressor from violating religious peace and harmony between the churches in Ukraine. Today we want the whole world to hear the voice of the Ukrainian religious environment, which stands guard over religious freedom, rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens. We wish the world to understand that the Ukrainian independent state is synonymous with such freedom, so that the world can hear that Ukraine stands, Ukraine fights, Ukraine prays!
The Major Archbishop’s statement contradicts the Pope’s August 25 denunciation of the Ukrainian parliament’s action. In praising the ban, the Major Archbishop made no reference to the papal statement.
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Posted by: Randal Mandock -
Aug. 29, 2024 4:58 AM ET USA
Unfortunately, Shevchuk has been a political partisan of the Kiev government ever since Russia's special military operation began. I may have missed it, but I do not recall Shevchuk rising in opposition to the 2014 coup that was backed by the U.S. as aggressor state. Where was he during Kiev's 8-year shelling of the Russian-affiliated region of the Donbass? Unlike Pope Francis, Shevchuk is not an objective voice in the matter of Kiev's military aggression against the people of the Donbass.
