Lawyer for UOC: Ukrainian authorities’ vandalism is destroying the Church

Robert Amsterdam. Photo: X

In a recently published article in The Moscow Times, international lawyer for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) Robert Amsterdam harshly criticized the Ukrainian authorities for their systematic persecution of the Church. Amsterdam describes the government’s actions as "religious vandalism" unprecedented since the Soviet era's excesses. In his article, he details a new wave of repression against the UOC, including discriminatory legislation, arrests of clergy, and violent church seizures.

Amsterdam notes that the new law banning the UOC’s activities contradicts the principles of religious freedom on which independent Ukraine was founded. He cites the Norwegian human rights organization Forum 18, which condemned the law, arguing that the "new law will not help preserve the religious freedom, tolerance, and pluralism championed by Ukraine since gaining independence in 1991." This legislation, according to Amsterdam, "presents a direct challenge to Ukraine’s Western trajectory and accession to the EU."

Amsterdam also emphasized that UOC clergy, including Metropolitan Arseniy of the Sviatohirsk Lavra, are under arrest on fabricated charges. Metropolitan Arseniy was detained in April 2023 and faces up to eight years in prison for a sermon, in which the hierarch supposedly gave away the location of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "despite the fact the checkpoints were not erected or manned by the military." The lawyer claims that the metropolitan’s detention has been repeatedly extended in violation of Ukrainian law, and that he is enduring inhumane detention conditions.

In his article, the human rights lawyer also highlights the increasing incidents of violent UOC church seizures, which are then transferred to the state-supported Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). He cites the incident at the St. Michael’s Cathedral in Cherkasy, where OCU supporters broke into the church, damaged property, and used tear gas. Despite acts of violence and assaults on parishioners, Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv claims that the police did not intervene.

Furthermore, Amsterdam reminds that the UOC suffers not only from Ukrainian authorities but also from Russian aggression. Many of its churches have been destroyed during hostilities, and priests who protested the seizure of their parishes by the Russian Orthodox Church in occupied territories were subjected to arrests and repression.

Despite efforts by the United Nations and Forum 18 to bring attention to the situation, Western media pays little attention to religious freedom violations in Ukraine. The lawyer underscores that criticizing Ukraine on this issue has become “taboo”, even though suppressing religious freedom does not align with Western human rights standards.

Concluding his article, Amsterdam notes that the "discourse surrounding the persecution of the church has begun to shift in recent weeks, especially in the wake of Ukraine’s adoption of the new law." He cites in this regard Pope Francis, who recently rebuked the UOC ban, stating, “Please, let no Christian Church be abolished directly or indirectly. Churches are not to be touched!”

In addition, the World Council of Churches and the U.S. Mission to the OSCE registered its alarm over the collective punishment of an entire religious community and the threat to freedom of religion or belief.

The UOC lawyer calls on the Ukrainian government to subject its new law to international legal review, noting that the West should continue supporting Ukraine, but this msut not come "at the cost of a crackdown on civil liberties".

As reported by the Union of Orthodox Journalists (UOJ), UOC lawyer Amsterdam showed a photo of Metropolitan Longin in intensive care.

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