EC expert: Authorities should take a step back in relation to the UOC

The expert of the European Commission "For Democracy through Law" Maryna Stavniychuk said that the Ukrainian authorities should take a step back in terms of persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. She said this in an interview with Uvaha: Kiriya.

Asked whether the state should interfere in the affairs of the Church, Stavniychuk stressed that the UOC does a lot for Ukrainian soldiers on the front line, so the authorities need to be extremely tolerant in relations with the Church.

“What is happening today with the Churches in Ukraine should be a serious lesson for everyone. It seems to me that the authorities should take a step back, but the UOC, which is subject to serious persecutions today, should draw very serious conclusions for itself, notably the leaders of this Church. Conclusions need to be drawn in order to understand that power is one situation, while the Church must always be with the people,” she said.

As the UOJ reported, Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany said that the ban on the UOC is comparable to the persecution of early Christians.