Pope Francis has spoken out against the ban in Ukraine of religious institutions linked to the Russian Federation.
Please, let no Christian church be abolished, directly or indirectly: Churches must not be touched, the official Vatican News quotes the pontiff as saying.
In his speech, he expressed concern about the adoption of the law banning the UOC.
I continue to follow with pain the fighting in Ukraine and the Russian Federation, and thinking about the laws recently adopted in Ukraine, I fear for the freedom of those who pray, because those who truly pray always pray for everyone. You do no evil because you pray, Francis said in a statement.
Let us recall that there is one large church in Ukraine that has ties to the Russian Orthodox Church – this is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which previously added “Moscow Patriarchate” to its name. According to the new law, it has 9 months to sever ties with Moscow.
Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church strongly supports Russia’s war against Ukraine and even calls it “sacred”. According to polls, 63% of Ukrainians are for banning the UOC (MP). According to the SBU, more than 100 priests of the UOC are involved in criminal cases.
Source: Racurs
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