In a statement made shortly after the Angelus prayer on Sunday (25), Pope Francis expressed his concern about the decision taken by Ukraine to ban the Russian Orthodox Church from its territory. The decision was taken this week by the parliament in Kiev, and paves the way for a possible illegalization of the activities of the Orthodox Church subordinate to Moscow.
Francis cited the approval of a law that gave religious temples in Ukraine a nine-month deadline to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. The Holy Father said he was saddened by the ongoing fighting between the two countries and reinforced his fear of attacks on the freedom of the faithful.
“Those who truly pray always pray for everyone. One does not commit evil because one prays. If someone commits evil against his people, he will be guilty of it, but he cannot have committed evil because he prayed. So, let those who want to pray be allowed to pray in what they consider their Church. Please, let no Christian Church be abolished directly or indirectly: churches must not be touched,” the Supreme Pontiff stated.
Russian Orthodox Church did not condemn Putin’s army’s invasion of Ukraine
The law “On the protection of the constitutional order in the sphere of the activities of religious organizations” was adopted with the votes in favor of 265 deputies. “A historic vote! This is a question of national security, not religion,” said parliamentarian Irina Gerashchenko.
The law will come into force 30 days after parliament makes the text public and will give parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate nine months to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church, Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak explained.
The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations also said on August 17 that it supported the law.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate had more than 8,500 parishes in Ukraine at the beginning of 2022, although after the Russian invasion about 600 were subordinated to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that emerged from the unification of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate and the autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The Church subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate was accused of failing to condemn the invasion in unequivocal terms, of failing to completely sever its ties with Russia, and of cooperating with the occupation authorities in the territories conquered by Russia.
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