The Head of the Ministry of Culture (Ukraine) Officially Announced that the State was Taking the Churches Away from the Church

Oleksandr Vladyslavovych Tkachenko

Information and Education Department of UOC – OCP News Service – 07/01/2023

Kyiv – Ukraine: Minister Tkachenko made a shocking statement, the essence of which was that the Ukrainian State in the XXI century was returning to totalitarian principles in its relations with religious organisations and could allow itself not to give back but to take away from the Church religious buildings constructed by it. The Information and Education Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church informs about it.

Mr Tkachenko communicated in his post on Facebook: ‘The Commission for the Delivery-Acceptance of the Dormition Cathedral and the Refectory Church from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to the State has completed its work.’ At the same time, he did not conceal the fact that the Church, actually, had not transferred anything to the state and had not signed any documents concerning that.

The Minister pointed out that the State was ‘taking back’ the church buildings even without the Church’s consent. Last time, it was representatives of the totalitarian communist regime who had declared the expropriation of the churches of the Lavra. Since then, there were attempts of the Ukrainian state to depart from the consequences of the use of Soviet methods of developing relations between the state and the Church. And finally, in the 32nd year of the Independence of Ukraine, a state official once again, contrary to all the democratic commitments, makes a statement resembling Soviet decrees on ‘returning’ churches to the state. With that, it is stated by the head of the ministry directly responsible for carrying out the decommunisation.

O. Tkachenko points out in his post that ‘the Ukrainian sanctuary should serve the entire Ukrainian people.’ However, he leaves unexplained why millions of the faithful of the UOC, including those who are defending Ukraine in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, are no longer considered by him to be representatives of the Ukrainian people, as they have been deprived of the right to pray in a church where they prayed throughout the last 30 years.

Source:
OCP News Service