North Carolina, October 1, 2025
Photo: catherinewhiteford.com
Catherine Whiteford, Co-chairman of the Young Republican National Federation and an Orthodox Christian, issued a statement on September 29, condemning Ukraine’s legal action against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as “state-sponsored persecution” and warning that “America and the world are watching, accountability is coming.”
Her statement came on the eve of the first court session in Ukraine’s legal case against the Church, which seeks to ban and dismantle the central administration and the entire Kiev Metropolia of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The session, originally scheduled for September 30, was postponed until October 30 due to the illness of one of the judges.
Whiteford’s statement has provided comfort to suffering Ukrainian Orthodox Christians. As one man told the Union of Orthodox Journalists:
We thank God for [her stance], because we have no voice in Ukraine. If you say to the press “yes my church was stolen, the state is persecuting us,” they say this is a “pro-Russia narrative” and you go to jail. If you say it was the schismatics who stole your church, they say you are “destabilizing the religious situation” and you go to jail.
In her statement, Whiteford references President Trump’s September 23 remarks at the UN about defending free speech and religious liberty for persecuted Christians. She speaks of Ukraine’s state-sponsored persecution, noting that the government passed a law punishing people for their faith rather than for crimes.
The Young Republican leader warns that if the ban proceeds, millions of Ukrainians could lose their churches, monasteries, and even the right to pray in their homes. She notes that clergy are already being targeted, with some forced to the front lines where some have been killed. Thus, she calls on the judges to uphold justice rather than political oppression.
Read her full statement:
On September 23 at the UN, President Trump reminded the world: we must defend free speech and religious liberty, especially for persecuted Christians. And he's right.
Shockingly, Christians are being persecuted not only by hostile regimes, but by Ukraine, an American ally. The government passed a law which punishes people not for crimes, but simply for their faith and fidelity to Christ. Tomorrow, on September 30, 2025, a Kyiv court will decide whether or not to ban and legally dismantle the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the faith of millions.
If this stands, millions of Ukrainians will lose their churches, their monasteries, even the right to pray in their homes. Clergy are already being targeted, some even forced to the front lines, where some have been killed. This is state-sponsored persecution, pure and simple.
And while the Orthodox Church also suffers persecution in countries like Moldova, Estonia, and Syria, today I must focus on Ukraine, because this decision is immediate, and its consequences are grave.
As an Orthodox Christian, my faith and convictions force me to speak out. So, I appeal directly to these Ukrainian judges, those called to uphold justice: do not be pressured into being a tool of political repression. Defend the law, not tyranny. And let officials know this: America and the world are watching, accountability is coming.
The Church has survived centuries of persecution. It will stand, it will endure, and it will prevail because the gates of hell will not overcome it.
May the Lord protect the faithful of His Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
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