EXCLUSIVE: Leaked Ukrainian Memo Says Religious Freedom is ‘Achilles Heel’
In an emergency strategy meeting held in response to the Society of St. John's Day of Action, D.C.-based Ukrainian lobbyists acknowledged the weight of the religious freedom issue as it pertains to the Ukrainian government’s public perception.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — According to a document presented by the American Coalition for Ukraine in an emergency call on Wednesday night – which was held in response to a successful Day of Action by the Society of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco – “Russia-aligned actors have found a politically correct way to advocate for Russia in the West.” This document was leaked to the Union of Orthodox Journalists of America by a confidential source.
That “politically correct way,” the document states, is to talk about religious freedom and the persecution of Christians. “This is our Achilles heel,” it reads. The document also identifies the UOJ and Society of St. John Director of Government Affairs Catherine Whiteford as “key players driving the narrative.”
The Society of St. John did not advocate for an end to U.S. support for Ukraine, but rather that accountability measures be put in place to ensure tax dollars aren't funding the persecution of Christians. Photo: UOJ-USA
In regard to statements made by Rep. Joe Wilson following a visit of Orthodox Christians to the Hill last month, the document states that concerned Christians who took offense to Wilson’s accusations hurled accusations of their own of “anti-Christian bigotry” as part of a “public pressure campaign” against Wilson.
“This shows how aggressively the ‘religious persecution’ narrative is enforced once challenged,” it continues. The document later states what the coalition believes are “common tactics” in “priests in cassocks on Capitol Hill” and “icons, crosses, and prayer imagery.” These visuals, it says, “short-circuit policy skepticism” and “read as ‘authentic faith under attack.’” It should be noted that these “common tactics” have happened exactly two times in the past two months, while the Ukrainian lobby holds hundreds of visits on Capitol Hill within the same time frame.
In giving the background of the creation of the state-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), the American Coalition for Ukraine document says it is recognized by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and “churches in communion with Constantinople (most notably the Greek Orthodox Church)." This framing is dishonest – the majority of churches in communion with Constantinople do not recognize the OCU, with the Greek Orthodox Church being one of just a few who do.
The document also says that the Russian Orthodox Church severed communion with Constantinople in 2019, and “other churches occupy gray zones between the two.” It should be noted that the Society of St. John had representatives from every single jurisdiction in the United States advocating for the persecuted UOC.
Members of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America — which is described by the coalition as a "key counterweight in the U.S." — showed support for the UOC on Capitol Hill. Photo: UOJ-USA
On a slide of the document titled “Orthodoxy in America (Why the U.S. Is a Battlefield),” the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is described as “founded” by the Moscow Patriarchate, a “predominantly convert church” with “English-language liturgy” and a “strong emphasis on the Russian saints and missionaries.”
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) receives language such as “re-submitted to Moscow Patriarchate” in 2007 and “participates in Moscow governance.” It is also described as “Moscow’s most ideologically conservative outpost abroad” which “acts as a foil to other Orthodox Churches.”
A photo of the slide talking about the OCA and ROCOR. Photo: UOJ-USA
On the contrary, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is described as one that is under Constantinople, recognizes the OCU, and a “key counterweight in the U.S.”
Other churches, such as the Serbian, Romanian, and Antiochian churches, are described as having “varying degrees of independence and canonical recognition.”
On another slide titled, “Converts Matter More Than People Think,” the document states that “many leading voices are converts” who are “more ideologically rigid, frame Orthodoxy as civilizational identity, and become effective political activists.”
The slide titled, "Converts Matter More Than People Think." Photo: UOJ-USA
The UOJ’s source also revealed that speakers during this presentation said they had recently met with Rep. Joe Wilson and that the situation is “getting under his skin.” The work of the Society of St. John and the vocal discontent from Orthodox Christians after Rep. Wilson’s statements were described as a vulnerability which opened him up to the culture war issue of “Republicans as defenders of the faith in America.”
The organizers of the meetings also told attendees to thank Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Wilson for bringing attention to the “serious foreign intelligence” risk – supposedly posed by Orthodox Americans – that the United States “should look into.”
Previously, UOJ reported that a ROCOR subdeacon had invited Rep. Wilson to Divine Liturgy.
