Geneva, December 2, 2025
Abp. Marchel of the Moldovan Church. Photo: protiktor.com
Two Orthodox hierarchs addressed the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues in Geneva on November 27-28, 2025, raising concerns about the persecution and discrimination against their respective Churches.
His Eminence Metropolitan Theodosy of Cherkasy and Kanev of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (who was urgently hospitalized the next day, likely as the result of poisoning) participated in the 18th session of the forum, submitting a video address and written statement distributed through the UN online events system, reports Public Advocacy, a human rights organization with consultative status with UN.
In his statement, Met. Theodosy highlighted decisions by UN Special Rapporteurs confirming violations of the rights of Ukrainian Orthodox Church believers. He noted that Ukraine’s Parliament has passed legislation banning his confession, with hundreds of violent seizures of churches occurring across the country and arrests of clergy and laypeople.
The Metropolitan specifically addressed what he termed discriminatory mobilization legislation. “Ukraine has adopted special discriminatory legislation that prohibits our church from obtaining draft deferments for our priests, unlike other confessions that have the right to full exemption from the army,” he stated. “We cannot save our priests from death, who are simply grabbed on the streets and sent to the front, where they die as ordinary soldiers.”
The UOC hierarch referenced UN Special Rapporteurs’ criticism of Ukrainian authorities in May 2025 for violations of UOC believers’ rights, stating that Ukrainian authorities continue policies he characterized as approaching “genocide on religious grounds.” The Metropolitan has been recognized as a human rights defender-victim of violations by the Ukrainian state and has been invited to the UN for personal testimony, though criminal cases opened against him currently prevent his departure from Ukraine.
His Eminence Archbishop Marchel Michăescu of Bălți and Fălești of the Orthodox Church of Moldova also addressed the forum, submitting video and written statements. He expressed concern about Moldovan President Maia Sandu’s July 30 statement listing the Orthodox Church of Moldova among ten “instruments of Russian interference” in parliamentary elections and “threats to national security.”
“In my opinion, this statement is an example of ‘hate rhetoric’ against our Church. Such statements are unfounded and inadmissible in a state governed by the rule of law,” the archbishop stated. “If Moldova wants to join the EU, it needs to comply with European legal standards and demonstrate equal treatment of all religious groups in practice.”
The forum, established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2007, attracted over 900 registered participants this year. Both hierarchs’ statements were supported by human rights organizations including Public Advocacy and For Human Rights.
Oleg Denisov, head of Public Advocacy, stated that the international alliance Church Against Xenophobia and Discrimination would continue supporting the Orthodox Church of Moldova in defending believers’ rights. He noted that complaints are being submitted to UN special procedures and that there may be opportunity to raise Moldova’s compliance with religious freedom obligations during the UN Human Rights Committee’s 144th session in 2026.
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