Assyrian Church condemns Ukraine for "religious pogrom" of UOC

Mar Awa Royel. Photo: spbda.ru

The Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Mar Awa III, condemned the actions of the Ukrainian authorities for persecuting believers of the UOC. He made this statement in a letter to Patriarch Kirill of the ROC, reports the ROC Department for External Church Relations.

The Catholicos-Patriarch stated that "support for schism and persecution of the largest canonical Church clearly indicates that the actions of the Ukrainian authorities are nothing less than a religious pogrom against the Orthodox Christians of the country."

The letter states that the Assyrian Church strongly condemns the interference of a secular state in the internal, including religious, affairs of an autonomous religious historically established structure—the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The head of the Assyrian Church of the East reported that "in protest against the unworthy actions of the Ukrainian authorities," he sent letters to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola. The Catholicos-Patriarch noted that in his appeals, he "pointed out many obvious instances of persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as well as referred to the charters of these two international bodies, which the Ukrainian government is grossly violating with its policies towards the canonical Orthodox Church". The head of the Assyrian Church of the East expressed hope that "these messages will have a positive impact on the leadership of the aforementioned international organizations".

As reported by the UOJ, the head of the Serbian Church called the persecution of the UOC terror.

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