Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Matteo Mecacci thanked His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia for the information regarding the situation with the rights of believers in Ukraine, as set out in the letter of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Holy Patriarch Kirill has sent messages to the Russian Orthodox Church.
In April 2024, Patriarch Kirill sent Messages to the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches and a number of religious figures, as well as addressed representatives of international organizations. In his messages, His Holiness spoke about the blatant cases of persecution of hierarchs, clergy and laity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, including the searches at the Dormition Svyatogorsk Lavra and the arrest of its vicar Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatogorsk, the imprisonment of Orthodox journalists charged with high treason for publishing about violations of the rights of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and the banning and blocking of online news resources covering the religious policy of the authorities and the situation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He also again raised the issue of The OSCE Representative expressed his hope that the Ukrainian Parliament would continue to prepare for the adoption in the second reading of draft law No. 8371, which is aimed at effectively banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and facilitating the process of seizing its churches and property, as the legislators themselves have made no secret of in their public statements.
The OSCE Representative expressed the hope that dialogue would continue.
In a dated May 7 response letter, the OSCE representative expressed hope for continued dialog. Matteo Mecacci also emphasized: «I can assure you that the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, in accordance with its mandate, will continue to monitor developments regarding freedom of religion and belief, including in Ukraine»
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EOCS Communication Service/Patriarchy.ru
