"Let those who want to pray be allowed to pray in what they consider their church" Pope Francis said.

None of the warring parties have heeded the Pope's pleas for the war to cease.

Praying is never evil

"I continue to follow with sorrow the fighting in Ukraine and the Russian Federation. And in thinking about the laws recently adopted in Ukraine, I fear for the freedom of those who pray" the pope said after his Angelus address on Sunday.

Those who truly pray always pray for all, he said, explaining why he was concerned.

"A person does not commit evil because of praying. If someone commits evil against his people, he will be guilty for it but he cannot have committed evil because he prayed.

"Please, let no Christian church be abolished directly or indirectly. Churches are not to be touched!" he said.

New law

In April, a Kyiv International Institute of Sociology study found 83 percent thought the Government should intervene in the activities of the UOC.

The study also found 63 percent supported banning the UOC altogether.

On August 24, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed into law a bill banning the branch of the UOC dependent on the Moscow Patriarchate.

It is the country's main denomination.

Religious groups with ties to Russia have been given nine months to sever their relationship with Moscow or leave the country.

Persecution alleged

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who supports Russia's invasion of Ukraine, is not pleased with the new law.

He says Kyiv is "persecuting" followers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church dependent on the Moscow Patriarchate.

The split has deepened the Russia-Ukraine conflict's religious dimension, giving Kirill cause to defend Russia's invasion.

It is a holy war, he says.

However, that branch of the Orthodox Church has been losing influence since a new independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church was founded in 2018.

Nonetheless, it still has thousands of Ukrainian parishes.

Conflicted interests alleged

Even though UOC cut ties with Moscow in 2022 after the conflict in Ukraine began, Ukrainian authorities consider it to be under Russian influence.

The authorities have increasingly launched legal actions, searches and seizures against it.

The Ukraine security service has accused the UOC of acting as a platform to justify the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Its churches are havens for spies, the security service alleges. It has launched criminal proceedings against at least 100 UOC clergy members. So far, 26 clergy have been sentenced.

Source

• La Croix
• RNS

On Thursday, the Ukrainian parliament's Committee for Humanitarian Affairs and Information Policy approved a draft law.

This aims to protect national security and religious freedom.

The legislative initiative was first adopted last October.

It now includes a clause "In view of the fact that the Russian Orthodox Church is an ideological continuation of the regime of the aggressor state, complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the name of the Russian Federation and the ideology of the 'Russian world', the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine are prohibited".

The draft law targets the UOC, which has around 10,000 parishes, accusing it of abusing religion and spreading Kremlin propaganda.

Outrage in Ukraine

Despite the UOC declaring its separation from the Moscow Patriarchate in May 2022, Ukrainian authorities still recognise the church as part of it.

The Russian Orthodox Church also maintains that the UOC remains under its jurisdiction.

The alleged support of the Russian war effort by UOC clergy has sparked outrage in Ukraine.

Some bishops and priests have been imprisoned or handed over to Russia in prisoner exchanges.

Despite this, the UOC leadership prays for the Ukrainian army's defence and donates money to support it.

Russia accuses Ukraine of persecuting Orthodox Christians and violating religious freedom, with the EU and USA also raising concerns. Robert Amsterdam, a lawyer for the UOC, warned that the law could hinder Ukraine's NATO and EU accession.

He said it could also damage relations with future US administrations.

The Ukrainian government has long supported the Orthodox Church of Ukraine which was established in 2018 with the backing of Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople.

Surveys indicate that most Ukrainians align with the OCU.

Sources

Katholisch

CathNews New Zealand