Recourse to Ukrainian government for UGCC requested

(RISU) - The Synod of Bishops of UGCC on 3 September addressed Ukraine's President to express its deep concern over the statement of the representative office of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Odesa of 1 September saying that Greek Catholics in Odesa carry out proselytism activities and that they may not have their own Church or even prayer house there. The bishops of UGCC from Ukraine and many countries of Europe, Northern and Southern America and Australia noted that they expect "an authoritative reaction" of Viktor Yanukovych to the situation regarding the allotment of land for the construction of a Greek Catholic Church in Odesa.

The address of the Synod of UGCC to the head of the state stresses that the mentioned statement of the press service of the Odesa Eparchy of UOC "contains crying violations of the Constitution of Ukraine and the inter-confessional peace which has been established in Ukraine in the recent years."

The authors of the address to the president refer to Article 24 of the Constitution of Ukraine according to which "citizens have equal constitutional rights and freedoms and are equal before the law" and therefore, "there can be no privileges or limitations according to ..religious and other beliefs." However, it follows from the statement issued by Metropolitan Ahafangel that only the Orthodox of the Moscow Patriarchate should be granted some special privileges in the Odesa Region whereas the Greek Catholics, who total over ten thousand in Odesa and its suburbs according to the official statistics, should be depraved even of the right to have "even a prayer house."

According to the bishops of UGCC, neither does Metropolitan Ahafangel pay attention to the provisions of Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine which says that "the Church and religious organizations are separated from the state." According to the hierarchs of UGCC, the statement of Metropolitan Ahafangel openly puts pressure on the state authorities which are in charge of allocation of a plot for the construction of the church of UGCC as it publicly spreads irresponsible statements that such construction should be considered "unreasonable and very dangerous."

The bishops of UGCC also called unacceptable the statement that "the construction of the cathedral of UGCC in the Orthodox Odesa will cause indignation and protest of the clergymen and Orthodox believers of Odesa Region, will create in our peaceful city a situation of interreligious conflict, will not be conducive to strengthening peace and social agreement in Odesa Region."

The bishops of UGCC view the content and tone of the statement as conscious and deliberate stirring of inter-confessional intolerance in the residents of Odesa and describe it as an open attempt "of stirring religious hatred," which is in contradiction to the spirit and letter of Article 37 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

The bishops of UGCC assured the president of their prayer and due respect and stressed that they expect a due response of the head of the state to the behaviour of the Odesa Eparchy of UOC.

And also...

(RISU) - The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Patriarch Lubomyr warned against turning the consideration of the bill on recognition of UGCC as a repressed church by the Supreme Council into a "political toy." The patriarch stressed that such an important question for the Church should be considered at the time of political peace.

"I am afraid that this law will become a political toy because of the time at which it is considered. As well as many other laws. These are quite political maneuvers and therefore, such a serious law on recognition should be considered at the time of political peace as it requires serious meditation. And I am afraid lest this and other laws should become a political toy," he stressed.

AS RISU reported earlier, the draft Resolution on granting UGCC the status of a repressed church was submitted to the consideration of the Supreme Council of Ukraine on 8 September. Resolution 7104 was registered by deputies of Yulia Tymoshenko's Motherland faction, V. Derevlianyi and D. Shlemko. So reported the press service of the Supreme Council.

The draft resolution will be considered by the Committee on Culture and Spirituality.

From 1946 to 1989, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) was the largest prohibited church in the world. However, the church was active in the underground during the whole period. Thousands of faithful and clergymen of the UGCC underwent persecutions and repressions.

During his visit to Ukraine, Pope John Paul II beatified 27 UGCC martyrs for the faith who suffered during that period.

The Institute of Church History of the Ukrainian Catholic University gathered hundreds of testimonies of witnesses of the mentioned events, their friends and family members as part of the Project "Oral History." All the materials testify that UGCC was cruelly persecuted by the authorities.