UOC bishop: We hope for world community to protect UOC believers’ rights

Metropolitan Feodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv has called on the international community and human rights defenders to protect the rights of the UOC believers in Ukraine, reports the press service of the Cherkasy Eparchy.

Commenting on the statement of the human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets that he had not received any appeals about violation of UOC believers’ rights, the bishop said that indeed he had not sent any applications to the commissioner for a number of reasons.

"Firstly, the powers of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights do not provide for the possibility of interfering in cases that are pending before the court or law enforcement agencies," he said. “Secondly, in previous years the Ombudsman's Office received dozens of appeals from UOC believers, which, in particular, can be ascertained from the report of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for 2020."

Metropolitan Feodosiy recalled that in 2020, the Commissioner was aware of "an extremely tense situation in connection with numerous conflicts in Ukraine on religious grounds".

At the same time, he noted that Lubinets did not take any effective action to protect the rights of the UOC believers in the Khmelnytsky region, which caused reasonable doubts on the part of parishioners about the objectivity of the ombudsman.

"As for the absence so far of appeals from believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to the ombudsman, it is probably due to the distrust of believing citizens of Ukraine in this institution and personally in Mr Ombudsman," the bishop added.

Metropolitan Feodosiy also said that in 2022 and 2023, the UN recognised the existence of facts of confrontations on religious grounds and noted significant restrictions on religious freedom in Ukraine.

As reported, Metropolitan Feodosiy of Cherkasy addresses the UN Council.