Pope Francis said that the Ukrainian law banning the activities of religious organizations connected to the Russian Federation in Ukraine seems to forbid people to pray "in the church they consider their own."
Points of attention
- The Pope spoke against the law banning the activities of religious organizations associated with the Russian Federation in Ukraine.
- He called for prayer to be allowed in any church that a believer considers his own, stressing the importance of freedom of religion.
- The President of Ukraine has signed a bill on banning the activities of religious organizations with ties to the Russian Federation.
- The law provides for the banning of the Russian Orthodox Church as a religious organization in Ukraine.
- Ukrainian churches cooperating with the Russian Orthodox Church have been given nine months to sever ties after the law comes into effect.
The Pope opposed the ban on religious institutions connected to the Russian Federation in Ukraine
I continue to follow with sorrow the fighting in Ukraine and the Russian Federation, and as I think about the laws recently passed in Ukraine, I fear for the freedom of those who pray, because one who truly prays always prays for all, - reads the pontiff's statement.
According to his belief, a person does not commit evil if he prays. Francis called to allow those who want to pray to do so "in the Church they consider their own."
Please, let no Christian Church be abolished directly or indirectly: Churches cannot be touched, the Pope concluded.
What preceded it
On August 24, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi signed draft law No. 8371 on the ban on the activity of religious organizations in Ukraine, which have a leadership center in a state that carries out armed aggression against Ukraine.
The law prohibits the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) as a religious organization.
After the law takes effect, Ukrainian churches suspected of collaborating with the Russian Orthodox Church will be given nine months to sever ties.
On August 23, the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, signed draft law No. 8371 on banning the activities of religious organizations in Ukraine that have their headquarters in a state that carries out armed aggression against Ukraine.
Also, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in general the government draft law on banning the Moscow Church, which operates in Ukraine under the UOC-MP brand.
