Pope Condemns Ukraine Move To Ban Activities Linked To Russian Orthodox Church
August 25, 2024
- By RFE/RL
Pope Francis on August 25 condemned the latest action by Kyiv to ban religious organizations with ties to the Russian Orthodox Church from operating in Ukraine.
"No Christian church may be abolished directly or indirectly. The churches must not be touched," the pope said during his weekly prayer a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed legislation prohibiting the activities of the Russian-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
"In thinking of the law recently adopted in Ukraine, I fear for the liberty of those who pray," Francis said on St. Peter's Square.
He told the gathered crowd that "one does not commit evil by praying. If someone does something evil to his people, he is guilty. But he can't have done anything bad by praying."
In signing the legislation on August 24, Zelenskiy underscored what he called the spiritual independence of the Ukrainian people, saying that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) "today is taking a step toward liberation from Moscow devils."
The OCU, which is aligned with Kyiv, was granted independence from the Moscow Patriarchate by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2019, the leading voice in the Orthodox world.
The Russian-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church declared it severed all ties with the Moscow Patriarchate in 2023 due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, the Ukrainian authorities accuse it of maintaining ties.
Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, is a vocal supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and of the war against Ukraine.
The adoption of the law, which was passed by parliament earlier this month, is considered a watershed moment in Ukraine, where Orthodox Christianity has been riven for decades in large part over the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The law is to go into effect 30 days after its publication.
Ukrainian authorities have sought to curtail activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine since Russian-linked forces seized parts of the country in 2014, claiming the church has supported Moscow's war of aggression.
The pope also said he continues to follow "with sorrow" the fighting in Ukraine.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, AFP, and dpa
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