Department for External Church Relations
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Holy Synod calls upon international community to speak out in defence of persecuted Ukrainian Orthodox Church
DECR Communication Service, 16.03.2023
At their first session in 2023, chaired by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, the Holy Synod members heard a report from Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, on his speech at the UN Security Council meeting.
The DECR chairman delivered an online address at the meeting of the United Nations Security Council on 17th January 2023.
In his speech, he pointed out some key facts of how the rights of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church members had been restricted in Ukraine, including the anti-constitutional decisions imposing the so-called sanctions against the UOC representatives and depriving them of the Ukrainian citizenship; the mass searches conducted by the Ukrainian security agencies in diocesan administrations, monasteries and parishes; the bills registered in the Verkhovna Rada banning the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church; the deprivation of the UOC of its right to use the churches located in the Kiev Caves Lavra and the ongoing raider seizures of its church buildings; slanderous information campaign against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church which had resulted in an outburst of violence against the faithful, including many cases of vandalism and arson attacks on church buildings, beating of the clergymen and even attempted murders. As Metropolitan Anthony emphasized in his speech, the actions of the Ukrainian state authorities with regard to the largest confession in the country run counter to fundamental international documents, as well as the Constitution and laws of Ukraine.
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church was grieved to state the fact of the mounting persecutions against the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and called upon the international community to speak out in its defence (Minutes No. 13).
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