Finnish Hierarch Opposes Peace Plan Over Religious Freedom Clause

Abp. Elias (left) together with Serhii Dumenko. Photo: OCU

HELSINKI — The head of the Finnish Orthodox Church under the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Abp. Elias, issued a statement regarding the U.S. plan to establish peace in Ukraine.

As reported by UOJ-Ukraine, the hierarch said the plan “raised justified concerns” since he has been praying for a just peace for three years, yet the current proposed conditions “do not inspire optimism.” The archbishop explained that he has particular concern about the plan’s requirement that Ukraine “fix” its legislation on freedom of religion.

“This demand could only mean guarantees for the country's church under the Moscow Patriarchate. This condition is not based on facts. I know this because I have seen the truth with my own eyes," Abp. Elias stated.

He then explained where his understanding of the religious situation in Ukraine comes from.

"As I stood there, in a war-torn country, I saw not religious persecution, but unity," the hierarch stated. "Our conversations with the head of the Office for Ethnopolitics and Religious Freedom, Viktor Yelensky, and the religious leaders in Lviv proved that freedom of religion in Ukraine is fully realized. Religious communities do not live in fear of each other but act freely."

He added that “a lasting peace cannot be built on injustice," saying that Pat. Kirill of Moscow "calls himself a shepherd but acts as a prophet of warfare."

Whether he considers the destruction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church — the Church of millions of Ukrainian believers — to be “justice,” the archbishop did not clarify.

Previously, UOJ reported that, while speaking on the war in Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump said, "God bless all the lives that have been lost."

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