Home page News
Primate of Ukrainian Orthodox Church, addressing U…

Primate of Ukrainian Orthodox Church, addressing Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko: This is not the path that will lead to unity

On 21 March 2019, the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine, took part in a meeting of the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko with members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations. The meeting was organized on the initiative of the state leader.

Accompanying His Beatitude were Metropolitan Antony of Borispol and Brovary, chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, vice-chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

In his address Mr. Petro Poroshenko noted the necessity to uphold principles of religious freedom. “As President, as guarantor of constitutional rights I will do all I can to defend the religious freedom in Ukraine. The religious freedom should be an object of our joint activities,” he said and added that “violence can never be a means of problem solving.”

Taking the floor, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine thanked the head of the state for the meeting and said the following:

“In this blessed season of Lent the Church calls for repentance, self-restraint, prayer and reconciliation with our neighbours. The task of the Church is to take care of things spiritual, moral, to lead people to God, to preach love, forgiveness and peace. The task of the state is to take care of the material dimension of human life, to enforce laws, etc.

“However, during this Lenten season, as well as during a long period preceding it, in our country such developments have been taking place in the religious sphere that grieve us. I mean seizures of church buildings, interference of government officials in church affairs and other offences.

“In particular, heads of village councils, city councils and administrations, as well as deputies convene meetings of territorial communities and initiate unlawful votes to change subordination of a religious community. It directly contradicts the law of Ukraine No.2683 (bill No. 4128-d) that says that only a religious community, not a territorial one, can do that with a two-thirds majority. As a result, our church buildings are being forcibly seized, our communities are being driven out. Our communities are forced to gather for prayer at houses in village. For instance, our communities gather for worship at houses in the Volyn region: in the villages of Nichegovka, Krasnovolya, Telchi and Godomichi (Manevichi district); in the villages of Zhidichin, Klepachi, Berestyanoye and Kulchin (Lutsk district); and in Berestechko, Peski, Zvinyache and Skobelka (Gorokhov district). Even for the Volyn region this is not the comprehensive data. There are many such cases in various regions. Often the police does nothing – just passively observes.

“I want to emphasize that it is not we who seize our churches, it is not our communities that cut off locks of their own churches, as mass media sometimes allege. People, alien to the Church and not churchgoers, come and do that.

“One of the recent outrageous incidents occurred in Baranovka town, Zhitomir region, where on the Forgiveness Sunday a deputy of the Radical Party, Oleg Kovalsky, convened “veche” and sent some 400 people to seize the Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. As the result, the crowd poured into the church. Some 150 parishioners who were inside were beaten up, thrown down the church stairs and pushed out beyond the church fence.

“And for such illegal actions, for inciting interreligious enmity, for trying to seize church buildings none of the officials is held responsible. Instead, a priest of our Church who defends our churches and upholds the rule of law (I mean Archpriest Viktor Zemlyanoy from the Rovno diocese) has come under pressure: criminal proceedings have been brought against him. He is said to be suspected of breaching articles No. 161 (part 1) and No. 300 (part 1). All the accusations are artificial. Besides, attempts are being made to impose a pre-trial restraint on him. As we have known, pressure is being put on our priest by the order of Vasily Bedriya, head of the administration of the Security Service of Ukraine for the Rovno region.

“Similar criminal proceedings have been opened in other regions of Ukraine as well. We regard them as corrupt ones, as a means of placing pressure on the clergy and faithful of our Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and deem such persecution in a democratic society inadmissible and violating the right to the freedom of religion.

“The mass media are being spreading false information about the transfer of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s religious communities (some 450 parishes). However, according to our data, only 42 parishes decided to move to the OCU, and nine of them did it without their priest. The rest 55 of the so-called “voluntary transfers” were in fact seizures, with locks cut off and believers beaten up. One hundred and thirty-seven cases were registered, when a territorial community voted for the transfer to the OCU against the will of a religious community. In such cases our faithful with their priests stay and gather for worship in their churches, while local authorities report that the “transfer” of the community has taken place.

“Facts of threats and intimidation of clergymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, of pressure being exerted on them, as well as of discrimination and other violations of the rights and freedoms of our Church have already drawn attention of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and published in his report of 12 March 2019.

“All that is now going on in villages in various regions of Ukraine has a negative impact on the authority of governing bodies and on the authority of the President.

“Therefore I would ask you, Pyotr Alexeyevich, to give instructions to local officials to stop artificially initiating changes in subordination. It will put an end to conflicts between people.

“It is my conviction that all the developments affecting our Church and the Orthodox Christians in general are not the path which we should follow. It is surely not the path that will lead us to unity. It is necessary to admit the fallacy of this path, to learn from mistakes and seek other ways of church unity. Seizures and “dragging” of parishes only throw the process of unity back, to what it was decades ago. We already endured the same in the early 1990s. Therefore, if we cannot completely rectify the situation, we should at least start with not aggravating it.

“Mr. President, I want you to get me right. We, that is our Ukrainian Orthodox Church, are pro-Ukraine, we are supporters of an integral and unified state, tranquility, peace, mutual understanding and unity between our people. We have always defended and declared it. All that I mentioned above only harms the state. Make sure that it stops. I believe that it is within your power!”

In response to the address of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Mr. Poroshenko said that neither he nor any district state administration gave instructions at a local level concerning transfers of churches from one confession to another. The head of the state advised to file lawsuits in the aforementioned cases and proposed to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry to hold a separate meeting to discuss these critical issues.

His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry handed over to the President a list of seized churches and a document describing other offences against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The state leader charged his assistants to examine the situation and take measures in each specific case.

When the official part was over, Mr. Poroshenko held a brief personal meeting with His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine, the Information and Education Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church reports, citing the UOC DECR website.

DECR Communication Service

Share:
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill sends congratulations to Archbishop Joani of Tirana and All Albania on his enthronement

29.03.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill sends condolences over devastating earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand

28.03.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill sends congratulations to Archbishop Joani of Tirana and All Albania on his election as Primate of Albanian Orthodox Church

16.03.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill sends letter to His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch concerning tragic developments in Syria

11.03.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill celebrates the Divine Liturgy for the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy at the Christ the Saviour Cathedral

09.03.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with delegation of Malankara Church

08.03.2025

Delegation of the Malankara Church attends Patriarchal Liturgy on the commemoration day of Blessed Matrona of Moscow

08.03.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill speaks on the phone with His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije

25.02.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with the Ambassador of Pakistan to Russia

06.02.2025

Divine Liturgy celebrated at Christ the Saviour Cathedral on the occasion of the sixteenth anniversary of the enthronement of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill

01.02.2025

Condolences of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill on the passing of the Primate of the Albanian Orthodox Church

25.01.2025

On the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill celebrated Great Vespers at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

07.01.2025

On the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, the Primate of the Russian Church celebrated the Liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

07.01.2025

Christmas Message by His Holiness Patriarch KIRILL of Moscow and All Russia

06.01.2025

A Joint Session of the Holy Synod and the Supreme Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Took Place

26.12.2024

DECR Chairman participates in Divine Service at the Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo

30.03.2025

Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk celebrates Divine Liturgy at the Resurrection Church in Seoul

23.03.2025

The Holy Synod confirms a number of appointments regarding the foreign dioceses and parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church.

20.03.2025

Metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony presents report to the Holy Synod on his visits to Lebanon, Albania, Italy, Serbia and Armenia.

20.03.2025

DECR chairman presents Patriarchal award to Primate of Armenian Apostolic Church

18.03.2025

DECR Chairman meets with Primate of Armenian Apostolic Church

17.03.2025

DECR chairman congratulates Archbishop Joani of Tirana and All Albania on his election as Primate of Albanian Orthodox Church

16.03.2025

Session of the commission for international cooperation of the Russian Presidential Council for Interaction between Religious Organizations takes place.

12.03.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill celebrates the Divine Liturgy for the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy at the Christ the Saviour Cathedral

09.03.2025

Meeting of the Council of the Christian Interconfessional Advisory Committee has been held

28.02.2025

Metropolitan Antony of Volokolamsk participates in Patriarchal Liturgy in Belgrade

26.02.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill speaks on the phone with His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije

25.02.2025

His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije receives Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk

25.02.2025

DECR Chairman tells participants of the meeting at Nizhny Novgorod seminary about external contacts of the Russian Orthodox Church

22.02.2025

Rector of St George Church at Russia’s Embassy in Prague awarded the Order of Holy Prince Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles

20.02.2025

Metropolitan Hilarion: Many things in a person's life depend on faith

29.08.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: The Holy Spirit is the main treasure of the Christian soul

01.08.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: Holiness is a constant striving to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ

27.06.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: God does not want to condemn, but to save us

07.03.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: The Lord always grants to us the opportunity to display our talents

24.01.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: The Lord has imbued the waters of Jordan with his divine presence to wash away human sins

19.01.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: to repent means to change your way of life

17.01.2021

On commemoration day of St. Catherine, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk officiated at the Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr In-the-Fields  the representation of the Orthodox Church in America

07.12.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: We can always show compassion for people

29.11.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion celebrates on commemoration day of St. Varlaam of Khutyn at the church of ‘Joy to All the Afflicted’ icon of the Mother of God

19.11.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: We should remember that the life of each human being is in the hands of God

06.11.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: For God there is nothing impossible

25.10.2020

Metropoplitan Hilarion: The cross which was an instrument of dishonourable execution becomes the symbol of salvation for millions of people

27.09.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: Eucharist is the wedding feast, to which Lord Jesus Christ invites each of us

13.09.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: Faith alone is not enough for salvation

30.08.2020

Page is available in the following languages
Feedback

Fields marked by * are mandatory required

Send a message
Рус Укр Eng Deu Ελλ Fra Ita Бълг ქარ Срп Rom عرب