Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is going to meet representatives
of all Ukrainian confessions on Maundy Thursday.
The president made
this statement on April 5, during his visit to Dnipropetrovsk oblast.
The details are unknown, but there’s no doubt that this meeting is
brewing. Yanukovych has been repeatedly criticized for his preference
for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate.
The Ukrainian
Council of Churches and Religious Institutions, the Lviv and Ternopil
oblast councils, and various confessions have expressed their
dissatisfaction with this situation as well.
Den has written
about numerous cases of political pressure on the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church of Kyiv Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the
Ukrainian Autocephalous Church (see Den No. 231, December 16, 2010; No. 2, January 12, 2011).
If this meeting takes place, it will be the
first one during Yanukovych’s whole presidential term – over a year now.
The religious confessions have accumulated a lot of questions to ask
the president, and it is no secret that the tone of the relations
between the church and state depends on him.
The Day hopes that
the peace among the Ukrainian confessions, firmly established under the
previous president, will endure.
Furthermore, the pro-blem of the schism
in Ukrainian orthodoxy hasn’t been resolved and, quite the contrary,
has been stoked in recent times.
Thus, we believe that the president’s
statement that “all the churches are native and equal” will come true.
Rev. Ihor YATSIV, press secretary of His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), head of the UGCC Information Department: “The Presidential Administration has been regularly explaining that
they are preparing this meeting. Why have they been explaining it?
Because the Ukrainian Church Council has repeatedly addressed the
president, expressing its desire and need to meet with him. The council
comprises Christians of various denominations, as well Jews, and
Muslims, covering about 90 percent of the Ukrainian population.
Obviously, such an important social institution can’t be ignored.
Especially that under the previous presidents such meetings were
regular, and discussed the relations between the church and state and
planned solutions of certain issues. Moreover, the previous prime
minister also held such meetings and discussed public support for the
churches.
“Hence, it will be our first meeting during Yanukovych’s presidential
term, so it’s very important to know the representatives of the
Ukrainian Church Council better. For example, His Beatitude Liubomyr
(Huzar) hasn’t had a possibility to meet the president as yet. I’m not
talking about a confidential meeting; they haven’t met even within a
wider circle. The president has visited only one denomination so far and
showed his unequal attitude to Christian churches and religions.”
Bishop Yevstratii ZORIA, spokesman of the UOC KP: “It’s good that the Ukrainian Church Council and the president want the
same thing. This meeting has been discussed for a long time, since the
beginning of Viktor Yanukovych’s presidential term. Obviously, his
exclusive attention to the UOC MP has provoked nervousness and negative
comments. We hope that by gathering all of us Viktor Yanukovych will
turn this page over and will give a start to constructive cooperation
between the government and the Ukrainian churches and religious
institutions — one that is based on the equality determined by law.
“One of the key points of the meeting is the reform of the Ukrainian
legislation concerning religious freedom. As far as I know, only the UOC
MP thinks that a new version is necessary.
We hope that the government
will pay attention to the opinions expressed by different denominations
and won’t make hasty decisions in order not to regret them later. It
could lead to a dramatic degradation in relations between the
confessions and aggravate the competition for cathedrals, which we all
want to avoid. The current law has been recognized as one of the best
not only in Europe, but all over the world. We strongly believe that we
shouldn’t ruin what is good and has been worked out.”