National Police Chief: We won’t enter a temple to kick someone out

Chief of the National Police of Ukraine Igor Klimenko. Photo: LB.ua

During the Easter festivities, the police will not go into the temple and much less will expel believers from there. Igor Klimenko, the head of the National Police of Ukraine, said this in an interview with Interfax.

According to him, the Interior Ministry leaders met several times with representatives of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations to discuss an optimal approach to the upcoming celebrations in the context of quarantine restrictions introduced due to the coronavirus.

“We tried to find a middle ground in the approach to the celebration,” Klimenko said. “Both the police and the Ministry of Internal Affairs proceeded from the fact that Easter services should take place. We understand that we cannot close the temples and we have no right to do so. Therefore, the following agreement was reached: the churches will definitely work, divine services will be held, and no more than 10 people will be allowed into a temple. A priest, who performs worship, – only he alone – may not wear a mask, because it is contrary to tradition and rituals. After the service, two people can enter the church if the temple is large and one person if the temple is small.”

The chief of the National Police noted that each Church now decides how the Easter foods will be blessed, but “in any case, the police will help social services deliver Easter cakes to vulnerable groups of people, will monitor order and engage in awareness-raising, not allowing people to attend small areas in large numbers.”

“In the countryside, every villager can put out a basket near his yard, while the priest will walk along the street and bless the basket contents with water sprinkling,” he added. “As for the city, we had disputes about whether it is possible to conduct such ceremonies near the entrances of houses. We came to the conclusion that this would be a rush of crowds, and we won’t be able to achieve what we want, i.e. to prevent close contact between people. There were proposals to consecrate Easter cakes in a store or in a bakery, but there is a subtle line here among representatives of the Churches – one cannot sell already consecrated foods. So now the Churches are looking for a way out of this situation."

Klimenko also said that “dialogue police, district police inspectors” will work near Easter temples and, in his opinion, “100% of prevention police will go out on April 19, because there are a lot of churches and parishes, therefore it is important to prevent conflicts between citizens, misunderstandings of citizens with the police." In the case of a gross violation of the law, he stressed, the police will respond according to their authority.

According to him, the priests will control the number of people in the temple, and "the police will be nearby."

“We will by no means go into the temple and all the more kick someone out of there,” he stressed, adding that each priest will have contact numbers of the police he will be able to turn to for help if necessary.

The chief of the National Police also said that on the eve of the holidays, unit leaders are meeting with clergymen to coordinate actions.

“We are concerned about the situation, our personnel is being instructed. We understand that there can be a ‘bias’ on the one and the other side,” concluded Igor Klimenko.

As reported by the UOJ, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations offered the authorities ways to protect the rights of believers during the quarantine days.

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