UGCC Head: We Had to Tell World UOC Ban Does Not Curtail Religious Freedom

KYIV — Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) head Sviatoslav Shevchuk said religious leaders had to convince the international community that Ukraine’s 2024 law banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) does not violate religious freedom.

In an interview with Livyi Bereh, Shevchuk said authorities made a strategic mistake by openly describing their policy as the elimination of a particular Church. He argued that the government should instead present the measures as an effort to protect believers from having their religious convictions exploited by what he called an aggressor state.

“I think one of our weaknesses was that we started talking about eliminating a particular Church at all,” Shevchuk said. “That is not quite right. We should be talking about protecting the feelings of believers from being exploited by the aggressor state.”

According to the UGCC head, the focus should have been on “protecting the individual rather than eliminating any particular structure, including in the legal sense of the word.” He maintained that this distinction would allow Ukraine to frame its actions as protecting believers rather than restricting their freedom of religion.

Shevchuk recalled that after the law was adopted, religious leaders had to explain Ukraine’s position to the international community. He said they sought to assure foreign partners that freedom of conscience had not been curtailed and that UOC believers were not being persecuted. His remarks appeared to refer to advocacy efforts by members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations in Western countries.

Previously, the UOJ reported that UGCC Head Shevchuk claimed Putin wanted him dead.