Patriarch Kirill Appeals Against Verkhovna Rada Bill No. 8371 Targeting Ukrainian Orthodox Church

DECR– 21/10/2023

Moscow – Russia: On 19 October 2023, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ sent a message to the Primates of Local Orthodox Churches and a number of religious figures, and also addressed a message to representatives of international organizations. In his messages, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church shared his alarm in connection with the consideration of a discriminatory bill by the Ukrainian parliament, the Patriarch’s Press Service reports.

On October 19, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the first reading bill No. 8371, aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It allows the activities of any religious communities on the territory of Ukraine to be prohibited in court if they are “affiliated” with foreign religious organizations.

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In his message to the Primates of Local Orthodox Churches and religious figures, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill noted: “Without revealing with sufficient clarity the concept of this “affiliation,” the mentioned bill gives the right of judgment in each specific case to the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, headed by a person who is hostile biased towards the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This body, guided by unknown criteria, will conduct a so-called religious examination, based on the conclusion of which a court decision will be made. It doesn’t take a lawyer to understand that the proposed scheme opens the door to all sorts of abuses.”

“The initiators and supporters of the adoption of this bill in Ukraine – top-level government officials, deputies of the Verkhovna Rada, radical politicians and public figures – do not hide that the bill is directed against the largest religious community in Ukraine and aims to eliminate the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as a centralized structure, as well as all its dioceses, parishes and monasteries separately,” said His Holiness.

“The adoption of this bill was preceded by a whole set of measures directed against the canonical Church in Ukraine: a slanderous anti-Church campaign in the national media, seizures of churches with the use of brutal violence against the clergy and believers, the initiation of numerous fictitious criminal cases, pressure on the episcopate from the secret services, attempts the seizure of the cradle of Russian monasticism – the Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and other largest monasteries with the forced eviction of their inhabitants, as well as a wave of forced closure by local authorities of churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a ban on its services, and the seizure of land plots occupied by its monasteries, temples and shrines” , – emphasized the Primate of the Russian Church.

According to His Holiness, the outlawing of a religious organization that unites many millions of followers, thousands of communities and hundreds of monasteries throughout the country “puts the Ukrainian state on a par with the most sinister atheistic regimes of the past.”

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, on behalf of the entirety of the Russian Orthodox Church, addressed the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches with a request to come out in support of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and all her faithful children who are in sorrow for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:9).

The message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia was sent to the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches, Pope Francis, Patriarch of the Coptic Church Tawadros II, Head of the Anglican Communion Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Catholicos of the East and Metropolitan of Malankara Basil Mar Thomas Matthew III, Supreme Patriarch and Kat Olikos of all Armenians Karekin II, Catholicos of the Supreme House of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church Aram I, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East Mar Ave III, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and the whole East Bechara Boutros al-Rai, Secretary General of the World Council of Churches Dr. Jerry Pillay, President of the Evangelical Association Billy Graham Franklin Graham.

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In an address to the leaders and representatives of international organizations, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia once again recalled the discriminatory nature of bill No. 8371: “On March 23, 2023, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report on the implementation of human rights in Ukraine, which recognized that bill No. 8371 may be discriminatory in relation to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. On July 26, Ukrainian journalist, writer and supporter of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Yan Taksyur, spoke at a special session of the UN Security Council, declaring gross and massive violations of religious freedom in Ukraine.”

“Despite the established facts of violation of the rights of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian authorities continue the policy of liquidating this religious community, increasing the suffering of millions of believers,” the Primate of the Russian Church stated with bitterness. “The episcopate and believers remain deprived of the right to effective legal protection of their rights in the face of a threat to their life and health created by religious extremists with the connivance of the authorities.”

“I ask you to take all possible measures to prevent the continuation of mass violations of the religious rights of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, including in the form of discussing the current situation within the framework of the agenda of the organization you head, preparing specialized reports, as well as sending special missions to establish the facts “, says the message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, who expressed the hope that measures to prevent lawlessness “can be taken before the bill is considered in subsequent readings, comes into force and begins to be implemented.”

Messages to the heads and representatives of international organizations were sent, in particular, to: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Matteo Mecacci, Secretary General of the Council Europe Maria Pejcinovic-Burich, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities K.K. Abdrakhmanov, Special Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance K.P. Ashwini, UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief Nazila Ghani.

Source: DECR