The United States has called on the Ukrainian government to ensure all religious preferences are respected in light of the Autocephaly granted to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), the State Department said on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th June, 2020) The United States has called on the Ukrainian government to ensure all religious preferences are respected in light of the Autocephaly granted to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), the State Department said on Wednesday.
"In light of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's granting the OCU autocephaly the Ambassador urged government and religious leaders to practice tolerance, restraint, and mutual understanding to ensure respect for all individuals' religious freedom and preferences," the report said.
The Ecumenical Patriarch granted autocephaly to the newly created OCU on January 6 and on January 30, the government officially registered the OCU under the titles Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) and Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), the report said.
The report said The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) remained officially registered as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church although it remained a constituent part of the Moscow Patriarchate.
The report also noted reports of what some media and political observers described as radical groups physically assaulting and pressuring UOC-MP supporters, vandalizing UOC-MP property as well as UOC-MP priests locking out parishioners who wanted to change to the OCU.
"In March representatives of the group Right Sector, commonly characterized as a violent radical group, reportedly pushed and possibly hit UOC-MP parishioners during a scuffle between OCU and UOC-MP members near a UOC-MP church in Hnizdychne, Ternopil Oblast," it said. "UOC-MP leaders accused the newly formed OCU of seizing churches belonging to the UOC-MP; the OCU responded that parishioners rather than the OCU had initiated the transfers of affiliation."
Last year Bartholomew handed over the tomos of autocephaly to the UOC-KP, led by Epiphanius. The Russian Orthodox Church, along with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, refused to recognize this. The Moscow Patriarchate has described the situation as the "legalization of schism," stressing that it would have catastrophic consequences and affect millions of Christians in Ukraine and other countries.
