The World Council of Churches, an international Christian ecumenical organization, and the Pope have rebuked Ukraine’s adoption of a law to ban the Russian Orthodox Church.
The law, adopted on 20 August, has immediate consequences for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP), the parishes of which must sever their connection with Moscow or face deregistration. The law also defines and bans the ideology of the “Russian world,” the quasi-religious driver of Russia’s war that the UOC MP has been accused of spreading in Ukraine.
Despite making initial steps to distance themselves from Russia in the first months of Russia’s full-scale war, the UOC MP’s separation has been viewed as a half-measure, with the church maintaining its canonical connection.
While upholding Ukraine’s “sovereign right and responsibility to defend the nation’s territorial integrity and to protect its citizens,” the World Council of Churches stated on 24 August that it is alarmed by the potential of the law to violate religious freedom and its potential for “unjustified collective punishment” of an entire religious community.
The World Council of Churches pleaded for a fair and unbiased investigation before “a religious organization can be banned” and that principles of international law, natural justice, and due process be upheld.
“Neither the crimes of some individuals nor the historical affiliations of a particular religious entity can be a sufficient basis for measures tantamount to collective punishment of a living worshipping religious community in Ukraine. The government of Ukraine is responsible for protecting the rights of all its citizens,” the body stated.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis addressed the law in his Angelus prayer on 25 August.
“I continue to follow with sorrow the fighting in Ukraine and the Russian Federation. And in thinking about the laws recently adopted in Ukraine, I fear for the freedom of those who pray, because those who truly pray always pray for all. A person does not commit evil because of praying. If someone commits evil against his people, he will be guilty for it, but he cannot have committed evil because he prayed. So let those who want to pray be allowed to pray in what they consider their Church. Please, let no Christian Church be abolished directly or indirectly. Churches are not to be touched!”
Theologian Cyril Hovorun: Patriarch Kirill aims to escape his isolation
These statements are a result of the prolific activities of the Russian Orthodox Church primate, Patriarch Kirill, who aims to escape the international isolation he finds himself in due to his support for Russia’s war, theologian Cyril Hovorun told Euromaidan Press.
“Immediately after the law banning the Russian Orthodox Church and restricting its affiliates in Ukraine was adopted by the Ukrainian Parliament (on 20 August) and signed by President Zelensky (on 24 August, Ukraine’s Independence Day), the Patriarch of Moscow spammed various churches and ecumenical organizations across the globe with his protestations,” Hovorun said.
Patriarch Kirill does not really care about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Cyril Hovorun asserts: after all, the Russian Orthodox Church annexed all the dioceses of the UOC MP on Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia. Neither does the patriarch, who explicitly blessed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, offer condolences when UOC MP priests or laity get killed by Russian shelling.
“What he cares about is getting out of the international isolation, in which he found himself following his fervent support to Putin’s war. The Ukrainian lawmakers, without wanting this, provided him with such an opportunity,” Hovorun believes, adding that the response from Kirill’s vis-à-vises was immediate.
“First to respond was the World Council of Churches, which refuses to restrain Russian participation in it. It took two years for this organization to properly react to the Russian aggression against Ukraine, but it reacted to the Ukrainian law only four days after it was adopted,” Hovorun says.
The theologian notes that the law that Ukraine adopted is imperfect and difficult to implement. Particularly, the law can be applied only to individual parishes, as the UOC MP does not exist as one legal entity in Ukraine but rather as a network of religious organizations. Furthermore, the law that Ukraine adopted presupposes complex implementation procedures: it involves commissions establishing whether the parish has severed relations with Moscow and then involves court procedures that can drag on for years.
“The WCC ignores these aspects of the law and adopts the language of the propaganda that renders it in terms of a blanket ban,” Hovorun notes.
“More cautious and caring was the statement that came from Pope Francis during his weekly Angelus prayer on August 25. He said: ‘Let those who want to pray, pray in what they consider their Church.’ He also expressed his concern ‘for the freedom of those who pray’,” Hovorun adds.
Pope Francis has faced criticism for his perceived ambiguity regarding Russia’s war against Ukraine. While initially recognizing Russia as the aggressor, he has subsequently suggested that both parties share blame for the conflict by urging them both to engage in negotiations and even calling upon Ukraine to raise the white flag.
More criticism of Ukraine’s law can follow, Hovorun warns:
“Before the law was adopted, Ukrainian law- and policymakers were warned that such reactions would follow, and they indeed followed immediately. More of them are expected. Some of them come from those who really care about Ukraine, such as the Pope. Others are swiftly propelled by those who use Ukrainian missteps to weaken support for it for seemingly noble reasons. However, they are not reasons but excuses, which Russia skillfully instrumentalizes through platforms such as the WCC,” the theologian adds.
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