MP: OCU, Catholics, Protestants assure West there is no persecution in Ukraine
The MP acknowledged that the authorities adopted the law against the UOC amid pressure from the West.
Ukrainian MP Mykyta Poturaiev acknowledged that representatives of the OCU, Catholics and Protestants helped the authorities counter Western pressure while the law against the UOC was being drafted, Espreso reports.
Poturaiev admitted that the authorities drafted and adopted the law under international pressure. “The state is doing its work in accordance with the law, which we passed with great difficulty – and amid serious international pressure. We had to persuade our European partners, secure the appropriate wording in resolutions of PACE and the European Parliament, and work with our American colleagues.”
The MP explained that to overcome this resistance, officials enlisted religious organizations, which unanimously rejected reports of persecution in their contacts with European and American counterparts. “The consolidated position of all Ukraine’s religious denominations also played its part – Protestants, Catholics and the OCU, who spoke with one voice in rejecting Moscow’s claim that ‘freedom of conscience is allegedly being violated’ in Ukraine.”
The MP expressed hope that Western intelligence services would assist in the fight against the Church. “We showed our Western colleagues the true face and role of the Moscow Patriarchate. Now let their intelligence services deal with them.”
As previously reported by the UOJ, UCCRO member Vitalii Kryvytskyi rejected allegations of religious persecution in Ukraine.
