Much support has been given to Ukraine, but the UK government is shamefully silent on the violation of religious freedom
Religious freedom is being violated in Ukraine. Right now, the Ukrainian government is enforcing Law 3894, a bill that will ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the country’s largest and oldest Christian denomination.
Yet for all the West’s grandstanding about democracy and rule of law, this issue has been met with near total silence. Worse still, the UK government has revealed itself to be completely ignorant on the issue.
In recent months, Sir Iain Duncan Smith has submitted parliamentary questions to Stephen Doughty, the Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories. These questions raised important queries about the freedom of religion or belief in Ukraine.
Doughty’s lack of knowledge and wilful blindness were evident in both his replies. They also show a dereliction of duty to help secure Ukraine’s democracy and commitment to human rights for all.
Despite the growing body of evidence that Ukraine is breaching international law, Doughty claimed in his response to Sir Iain that “the UK fully supports the intention behind Law 3894.” Belying his naivety, Doughty went on to state that “the Ukrainian Government and religious leaders have offered reassurances that the law is not aimed at restricting freedom of religion or belief in Ukraine, but instead responds to clear national security threats”.
This response shows that Doughty has taken the Ukrainian government’s words at face value, revealing a complete failure to raise legitimate criticisms of poor government policy.
Ukraine is trying to dissolve the UOC based on false accusations that the Church supports Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine
As revealed by a response to another question asked by Sir Iain, Doughty appears to have also relied on the assurances of the All Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations. What he fails to realise, is that the UOC has been actively excluded from this religious council, thereby losing the opportunity to speak to UK ministers about the persecution it faces.
Ukraine is trying to dissolve the UOC based on false accusations that the Church supports Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Such unjust claims completely ignore the fact that the UOC has repeatedly condemned Russian aggression and has denounced the pernicious ideology of the “Russian World”. Furthermore, the UOC has donated millions in humanitarian aid and has opened a network of parish churches abroad to serve the needs of Ukrainian refugees.
The Ukrainian government’s policy also unjustly overlooks the UOC’s decision to formally break with the Russian Orthodox Church in 2022, building on the rights first acquired by the UOC in 1990 to broad autonomy and self-administration.
Yet none of the UOC’s actions in support of Ukraine and its people have given the Ukrainian government pause for thought.
Alongside the enforcement of Law 3894, churches belonging to the UOC are being violently seized and handed over to a state-backed church. Bishops and priests are being arrested on politically motivated grounds. Shockingly, Metropolitan Onufriy — the Ukrainian born 80-year-old head of the UOC — just had his citizenship stripped from him by presidential decree, a decision that has spread alarm among human rights activists in Ukraine.
These actions against the UOC are causing great distress to Ukrainian citizens who worship in the Church. Furthermore, as the Church of England has stated, Ukraine’s efforts to ban the UOC “threatens Ukraine’s social cohesion at a time when it needs a unified societal response to Russian aggression.”
For too long, the Ukrainian government has been led to believe that the West is too distracted to notice such flagrant abuses of human rights. However, the Western media is slowly catching up with the fact that the authorities in Ukraine are making poor decisions, creating divisions and distrust at a time when the country desperately needs unity.
Stories just published in the Financial Times and The Spectator provide just the tip of the iceberg. The FT quoted Kyiv’s Mayor, Vitali Klitschko, who stated that “under the guise of war, the authorities persecute those deemed inconvenient: political opponents, local governments, experts, journalists and activists”. To that list we could easily add the bishops, priests and parishioners of the UOC.
Beyond the media, there has been more full-throated criticism of Ukraine’s religious policy. Law 3894 has been roundly criticised by Pope Francis, Vice President Vance, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, the U.S. Mission to the OSCE, the World Council of Churches, and the Norwegian Human Rights NGO, Forum 18.
Despite these major interventions of the international community, the UK government remains silent. This silence is particularly troubling given the nature of the war. Ukraine is not just battling for its territorial integrity, but for the type of country it aspires to be. Ambitious to modernise and westernise, religious persecution cannot be tolerated. Ukraine risks undermining the very values that its citizens are dying for.
The UK government must take seriously the legitimate concerns about religious freedom in Ukraine. It must support those who belong to the UOC to ensure their rights are secured.
