The leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church has been tasked with trying to convince the world religious community that it is not Russia that is committing bloody crimes against freedom of conscience, but Ukraine that is violating international principles in the area of religious freedom. To do this, Patriarch Kirill should meet with religious leaders and try to convince them, following the most shameful examples of Kremlin propaganda, that evil is good and lies are truth. This is stated in a statement by the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, UNN reports.
Details
According to the report, the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has long been an instrument of hatred and justification for the war of aggression against Ukraine, was tasked with trying to convince the world religious community that it is not Russia that commits bloody crimes against freedom of conscience, but Ukraine that violates international principles in the field of religious freedom.
"To this end, Patriarch Kirill, who is personally responsible for calls for the genocide of Ukrainians, the proclamation of the invasive imperialist war as "sacred," and specific actions aimed at destroying Ukrainian statehood, culture, and identity, should meet with religious leaders and try to convince them, following the most shameful examples of Kremlin propaganda, that evil is good and lies are truth," the statement said.
The State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience considers it necessary to remind that Ukraine has been a home of religious freedom throughout its independence, where believers of all religious traditions coexist and enjoy equal rights.
"The Russian invasion has brought real grief and misery to believers. Since the beginning of Russian aggression in 2014, the Russian occupation of both Crimea and Donbas has been accompanied by pogroms of evangelical churches, persecution of Greek Catholics and Orthodox Christians of the Kyiv Patriarchate. Priests and active lay people were beaten, handcuffed, intimidated, and forbidden to perform services in Ukrainian. Seizures of prayer buildings and beatings of clergy have become systemic," the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience reports.
With the beginning of the large-scale invasion, the murder of clergy, including those in liturgical vestments, the destruction of religious buildings, torture, and abuse became a daily practice. More than 40 priests and pastors, monks, and teachers of theological educational institutions were killed by the Russian military during the occupation of Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions; a large number of clergy were killed during shelling in Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv regions.
Russian troops have also completely destroyed or damaged at least 630 churches, houses of worship, synagogues, and mosques. There are documented cases of religious buildings being seized by the Russian military, who used them as military bases or as cover for firing positions. Some religious buildings were deliberately looted by the Russian military, closed or converted into administrative buildings.
It is unlikely that Patriarch Kirill, who is preparing to perjure himself about the "oppression of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church," will talk about the fourteen clergy of this church who were killed by those to whom he promised eternal life for their crimes in Ukraine. It is also unlikely that he will mention the 187 destroyed churches where his name was raised during the liturgy before the destruction.
"The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has not received and will not receive any sympathy from a person who claims to be a 'father and master' for its faithful. It is no coincidence that hundreds of clerics of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are calling on their hierarchy to withdraw from the Russian Church, to terminate any administrative relations with an organization that does not hide its animal hatred for Ukrainians," the civil service adds.
The statement emphasizes that the Russian church plays a special role in indoctrinating deported Ukrainian children. Since the first days of the full-scale invasion, Russian officials have deported children from orphanages and boarding schools from the occupied Donetsk region to the Rostov region, where they met with Metropolitan Mercury (Ivanov) of Rostov and Novocherkassk. According to the Russian opposition student magazine DOXA and the Kidmapping resource, the ROC clergy involved the deported children in militaristic and chauvinistic activities and sought to eradicate their Ukrainian identity.
The State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience called on church hierarchs and religious leaders to raise their voices against the injustice committed by the Russian Church, in defense of those tortured, deceived, betrayed, and abducted with the participation of this organization, which has obviously lost the right to belong to the Church of Christ.
Recall
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) calls on all states to consider Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church as accomplices in war crimes. The PACE is appalled by the decision of the "Russian Council" affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church to recognize Russia's war against Ukraine as "holy.