ISLAMABAD/MOSCOW: Head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill on Saturday appealed to Pope Francis and other religious leaders to influence Ukraine to stop a crackdown on a historically Russian-aligned wing of the church.
Kyiv on Friday ordered the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to leave the church complex where it is based in the latest move against a denomination that it says was pro-Russian and collaborating with Moscow, Reuters said.
Forced closure of church
Kirill asked religious leaders and international organisations to “make every effort to prevent the forced closure of the church, which would lead to a violation of the rights of millions of believers in Ukrainian.
In a statement posted on the church’s website, Kirill strongly backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The UOC said it has severed its ties with Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate and was the victim of a political witch hunt.
Since October, Ukraine Security Service had regularly conducted searches at UOC churches, and slapped sanctions on its bishops and financial backers, besides opening criminal cases against dozens of its clergymen.
Kirill said that it was regrettable that Ukrainian worshippers’ rights and freedoms were being deliberately violated.
Among the many leaders to whom the appeal was addressed were Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the head of Egypt’s Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN human rights chief Volker Turk.
The Ukrainian culture ministry said that the UOC has until March 29 to leave the 980-year-old Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery complex, where it is headquartered.
Most Ukrainian Orthodox believers belong to a separate branch of the faith, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, formed four years ago by uniting branches independent of Moscow’s authority.
