Kiev, May 16, 2023
Photo: vrciro.ua
Members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (ACCRO) blatantly lied to the visiting delegation from the World Council of Churches during their meeting on Thursday, May 11, claiming there is no religious persecution in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, their meeting occurred on the same day that a court sentenced a Ukrainian Orthodox hierarch to a suspended three-year sentence in prison for owning several books about the Ukrainian schism, printed before the war began.
The ACCRO consists of 16 religious organizations, including the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” various Catholic and Protestant groups, and Jewish and Muslim groups.
“Despite martial law, the Ukrainian government ensures a high level of religious freedom, which is also facilitated by the judicial system,” the Council claims.
“In Ukraine, Freedom of religion is respected and there is no persecution on religious grounds during the war,” claimed Bishop Vyacheslav Gorpinchuk of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church, chairman of the ACCRO.
However, His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil, the Chancellor of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, also met with the WCC delegation and “informed [them] about systematic violations of the rights of believers and religious organizations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as well as about legislative initiatives that target the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.”
The WCC itself expressed concern in March about what is happening with the Kiev Caves Lavra, stating: “It is unfortunate that such actions—including with regard to the UOC’s monastic community of the ancient Dormition Kiev Caves Lavra—appear to target the church itself. The actions being taken against the UOC do appear to raise genuine questions with regard to respect for freedom of religion or belief.”
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