The deadline for throwing the monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) out of the historic Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery, as ordered by the Ukrainian government, is this March 29. This latest action is the icing on the cake of a series of persecutions of the church. Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church had challenged the world religious leaders, along with the UN, a couple of weeks ago to not sit silently by. Pope Francis, to his credit, did break the silence, publicly expressing, over a week ago, his concern over the blatant religious persecution involved.
Today, the Moscow Patriarchate welcomed a timely report on freedom of religion in Ukraine, just released by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. It addresses the Kiev regime’s year-long campaign of investigations, raids and arrests by Ukraine’s state security, the SBU, against the historic Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Despite the UOC having broken with the Russian Orthodox Church and having condemned Russia’s military action in Ukraine, the Kiev authorities can’t accept that as sufficient contrition and are making an ugly example of a state intrusion into church affairs.
