Yelensky briefs World Council of Churches on law banning UOC

Yelensky and Kovalska at a meeting with the WCC delegation. Photo: DESS

Viktor Yelensky, head of Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, briefed a World Council of Churches delegation led by General Secretary Jerry Pillay on the law aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This was reported by the DESS press service.

Yelensky said that in the 35 years since Ukraine gained independence, no religious organization had been banned, and that the current legislation concerns exclusively the Russian Orthodox Church, which, according to him, “has declared the war against Ukraine sacred and calls for the destruction of Ukrainian culture, statehood, and identity.” He also claimed that none of the requirements issued to the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC places a burden on believers’ consciences and that all of them can be fulfilled.

During the meeting, Yelensky also spoke about Russia’s crimes against religious freedom, citing more than 800 damaged churches and over 80 clergymen killed since the start of the full-scale invasion. His remarks came amid the continuing international debate over the law banning the UOC.

Olena Kovalska, a representative of the Office of the President, also attended the meeting.

As previously reported by the UOJ, Sviatoslav Shevchuk earlier told the World Council of Churches that the law banning the UOC was not directed against the UOC.

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