Appeal of UOC believers to President on persecution of the Church (text)
More than a million believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church call on the President of Ukraine as a guarantor of the Constitution to protect their rights.
On April 1, believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will hand over to President Vladimir Zelensky an appeal regarding the persecution of their Church.
The UOJ publishes the text of the letter.
TO PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE
V. A. Zelensky
11 Bankova St.
Kyiv, 01220
On the implementation of constitutional law
On the legislative initiative of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
in order to protect the rights of persons (laity) who belong to the believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Esteemed Vladimir Alexandrovich!
We, the laymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, appeal to you as a guarantor of the observance of the Constitution of Ukraine, human and civil rights and freedoms and the subject of legislative initiative on the issue related to the anti-church laws in force that violate our constitutional rights.
Thus, Law of Ukraine No. 2673-VIII "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Concerning the Subordination of Religious Organizations and the Procedure for State Registration of Religious Organizations with the Status of a Legal Entity" dated 17.01.2019 and Law of Ukraine No. 2662-VIII "On Amendments to Article 12 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations’ regarding the name of religious organizations (associations) that are part of the structure (affiliate with) a religious organization (association), whose governing center (administration) is located outside Ukraine in a state that is recognized by law as having implemented military aggression against Ukraine and/or temporarily occupied part of the territory of Ukraine” dated 20.12.2018 (hereinafter referred to as the Laws) contradict the constitutional principle of separation of the state from the Church.
Acting contrary to the requirements of Art. 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine, using these laws, the state grossly interferes with the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
In recent years, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine has been applying these anti-constitutional laws exclusively against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, trying to forcibly deprive Her of its own name. Officials violate the principle of equality of all religious confessions and limit the rights of our religious organization among others, which is discrimination on religious grounds of millions of believers who belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. State bodies, interfering in the internal affairs of the Church, impose their understanding of its religious and hierarchical structure. The provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine, which exclude the possibility of establishing special requirements for the name of individual religious organizations and regulating the right of everyone to profess any religion, are being violated. Because of this, the religious communities of the UOC are under constant pressure between state authorities and raiders, being deprived of the opportunity to amend the constituent documents, change leaders, open accounts in banking institutions, use the services of notaries, register rights to land plots under church buildings, etc.
As a result, the number of inter-confessional confrontations has exacerbated religious enmity and conflicts in the state. The use of anti-constitutional laws by church raiders leads to daily destabilization of the religious situation in society, deterioration in the level of freedom of religion in Ukraine and creation of significant obstacles to the spiritual and social ministry of Churches and religious organizations.
The laws on the forced change of name and subordination do not comply with either the Constitution of Ukraine or the norms of current international law. Forced re-registration, change of name and subordination in canonical issues of religious organizations (associations) is a direct interference with freedom of religion. The right to autonomy of religious organizations is guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights and is reflected in numerous decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. A religious organization has the right to independently choose its name, and it has no right to force its state to change.
It should be noted that Law of Ukraine No. 2673-VIII and Law of Ukraine No. 2662-VIII, in addition to violating the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens of Ukraine, pose a threat to peace and tranquility in our state.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its believers have repeatedly appealed to you with a request to remove anti-church norms from these laws, however, there was no reaction to petitions apart from formal replies.
We consider it unacceptable for the guarantor of the observance of the Constitution of Ukraine, human and civil rights and freedoms to neglect the interests of his voters, a multimillion Orthodox community.
Today the believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have collected over a million signatures against these anti-church laws.
According to the provisions of Art. 93 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the President of Ukraine has the right to initiate legislation in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Bills identified by the President of Ukraine as urgent are considered by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine out of turn.
Based on the foregoing, we request you, dear Mr. President of Ukraine, to exercise your constitutional right of legislative initiative in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and submit to the Parliament of Ukraine for consideration as urgent bills on recognizing as invalid the amendments established by the Law of Ukraine No. 2673-VIII "On Amendments to Certain laws of Ukraine on the subordination of religious organizations and the procedure for state registration of religious organizations with the status of a legal entity" dated January 17, 2019 and the Law of Ukraine No. 2662-VIII "On Amending Article 12 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations’ regarding the name of religious organizations (associations) that are part of the structure (affiliated with) a religious organization (association), whose governing center (administration) is located outside Ukraine in a state that is recognized by law as having carried out military aggression against Ukrainians and/or temporarily occupying part of the territory of Ukraine" dated 20.12.2018.
Please send the answer to this appeal to the address: 01015, Ukraine, Kyiv, st. Lavrskaya, 15, bldg. 49 to the office of the Metropolitanate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which will inform the church community about your answer.
Appendix: signatures of believers in the amount of 1,063,234.
Recall that the UOJ is broadcasting a text online press conference on the address of the UOC believers to President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky.
