Authorities in Crimea have decided to exclude Byzantine-rite
Ukrainian Catholics from a state religious council, the AsiaNews service
reports. Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, has issued new regulations for religious organizations, closely resembling Russian policies.
The regulations allow for state recognition of “traditional” religions, including Orthodox Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
However, the policy has been clarified to exclude Ukrainian Catholics.
Also excluded are Ukrainian Orthodox churches that are not recognized by the Moscow patriarchate.