Autonomous Orthodox Ask US Embassy to Help Church in Ukraine
25.02.2006, [13:09] // Violation of rights //Religious News Service of Ukraine (RISU)
Metropolitan Ioan (Notaro), prime bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America (AUOC-A), on 22 February 2006 sent a letter to James Heller, first secretary attaché at the US Embassy in Kyiv, asking for an investigation of the registration of the church by Ukraine’s government. Among the claims of the letter is that the bishops of the church “have been harassed by members of the” Security Service of Ukraine. The full text of the letter follows:
Autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America
February 22, 2006
Protocol: L1106
Mr. James Heller
First Secretary Attache of the United States
Embassy of the United States of America
6 Mykoly Pymonenka Street
Kyiv 01901, Ukraine
Dear Mr. Heller:
Peace be with you!
I am writing to you with the hope that you would investigate the matter
which we are bringing before you and that you would personally meet with
our Ukrainian Bishops and representatives and intervene in what we, as Americans,
consider to be the violation of the fundamental human rights of our Bishops,
clergy, monastics and people in Ukraine.
Our Bishops and representatives in Kyiv began the formal process of
registering our jurisdiction in Ukraine in November, 2005. We are informed
that the laws of the State of Ukraine specify a time-limit of one month for
a decision on the registration of an entity to be made by the Department
of Religious Affairs. However, the specified period can be extended an additional
two months given the need for additional information by that Department.
This time limit, as prescribed by Ukrainian law, has passed, and the process
is still being stretched.
What we find especially troubling is the attitude of a certain Mr. Viktor
Bondarenko. Mr. Viktor Bondarenko of the Department of Religious Affairs
of the Ministry of Justice in Ukraine openly stated to our representatives
that our compliance with the requirements for registration simply did not
matter, because if we would be registered, then everyone in Ukraine would
want to be registered. Mr. Viktor Bondarenko added that the purpose of the
Department of Religious Affairs is to bring boundaries and to limit who is
registered -- again, a bold statement made in direct contradition of Article
35 of the Constitution of Ukraine. Mr. Bondarenko has even been disrespectful
of my person in conversations with our Hierarchs and others even though he
has never personally met me. Some have stated that Mr. Bondarenko cannot
remain neutral and should recuse himself completely from this matter, as
he had been awarded a special honour by another Orthodox jurisdiction, namely,
the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate and that there is the possibility
that Mr. Bondarenko is prejudiced and will not support the registration of
any jurisdiction he may personally feel to be a “rival” of his own jurisdiction.
In conversations with our Bishops and clergy, Mr. Bondarenko has been openly
aggressive, hostile, has lost control and has openly screemed and insulted
our representatives.
Our jurisdiction had submitted all required documentation to the Department
of Religious Affairs through our representatives, His Grace Bishop Stephan
Negrebetskyj and The Rt. Rev. Mitred Archpriest Valentyn Soroka. Expert legal
opinions pursuant to our compliance with the requirements for registration
have been submitted by (1) the National Ukrainian Academy of Science - Koretsky
Institute of State and Law, (2) the University of Taras Shevchenko - Chair
of Religion, (3) the Association of the Attorneys of Ukraine (cf. attached
exhibits).
The questions asked of the legal experts were: (1) whether the Statutes
and activities of our Archdiocese of Ukraine are in compliance with the Constitution
of Ukraine and whether any of our activities might not be in compliance with
the Constitution of Ukraine, (2) whether it is possible to register the Statutes
of the Archdiocese of Ukraine with the Department of Religious Affairs which
is a part of the Department of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and (3)
whether it is actually necessary to register our parishes prior to the registration
of our jurisdiction in Ukraine. Each of these expert legal opinions, without
exception, concludes that our Statutes and activities are in full compliance
with Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine, possess all the necessary
requirements for registration, and, consequently, that our jurisdiction should
be granted registration.
In addition, during the registration process, our Ukrainian Bishops
have been harassed by members of the Slurzhba Bezpekiy Ukraiiny (SBU) [Security
Service of Ukraine-editor]. They have received telephone calls from members
of the SBU demanding that they “stop their activities.” Now, within the last
few days, one of our parishioners has even been threatened and told that
if he remains a part of our jurisdiction, he can lose his job and “suffer other
consequences.” To us as Americans, this is not only a violation of the freedom
of religion and conscience clauses of the Constitution of Ukraine but an
aggregious violation of basic human rights.
Relative to these most recent threats and intimidation of our Bishops
by the Slurzhba Bezpekiy Ukraiiny (SBU) and the members of the Department
of Religious Affairs, we, as an Orthodox jurisdiction, fear for the well-being
of our Bishops, clergy, monastics and people in Ukraine and ask for your
direct intervention in this matter. The question our Bishops, clergy and
parishioners here in the United States have asked is how can the United States
government contribute millions-upon-millions of dollars to Ukraine if the
government of Ukraine continues to act in a manner inconsistent with basic
human rights such as freedom of religion and conscience? The media of Ukraine
is replete with incidents detailing the violation of religious freedom in
Ukraine. His Grace Bishop Bronislaw Bernacki (Odesa - Simferopol Diocese)
and the Roman Catholics in Ukraine have suffered much; the Jews of Ukraine
continue to be persecuted, physically assaulted and are treated as somehow
less-than-human; the Russian True Orthodox Church is openly persecuted and
is refused registration; everyone knows about all that the members of the
Armenian Apostolic Church in L’viv have experienced. Now, we as an Orthodox
Christian jurisdiction are forced to fear for the physical and psychological
well-being of our members in Ukraine. All this, and not one Ukrainian government
official has come forth to demand an investigation into the Department of
Religious Affairs and/or to offer more than simple lip service to these inexplicable
and shocking violations of human rights on the part of Ukrainian government
officials.
_______________________________
+IOAN Notaro, Ph.D
Metropolitan Archbishop of the United States
Prime Bishop
Autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America
cc: US Senator Russell Feingold
US Senator Herbert Kohl
Mr. John Hanford, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
US Department of State: Office of International Religious Freedom
Mr. Barry F. Lowenkron, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human
Rights & Labor
Предстоятель Автономної Української Православної Церкви в Америці звинувачує владу України у порушенні права людини на свободу совісті
24.02.2006, [12:53] // Державно-конфесійні відносини // Religious Information Service of Ukraine - RISU
США
— У листі до Джеймса Геллера, першого секретаря-аташе посольства США в Україні Митрополит Йоан Нотаро, глава Автономної Української Православної Церкви в Америці просить розслідувати справу з „порушення в Україні фундаментальних прав єпископів, духовенства та вірних” цієї Церкви. Мова йде про відмову Державного департаменту у справах релігій зареєструвати в Україні юрисдикцію цієї Церкви.
У листі, зокрема, сказано: „Наші єпископи та представники в Києві у
листопаді 2005 року розпочали процедуру реєстрації нашої юрисдикції в
Україні... Нас стурбувала позиція Віктора Бондаренка з Департаменту у
справах релігій, який відкрито заявив, що наші намагання не мають
значення, бо у разі нашої реєстрації, кожен в Україні захоче
зареєструватися”.
У листі наголошено також, що під час процесу реєстрації їх єпископи з
України зазнали переслідувань від працівників Служби Безпеки України.
Митрополит стверджує, що українські єпископи цієї Церкви отримували
дзвінки з СБУ із вимогою припинити свою діяльність. „Одному з наших
парафіян кілька днів тому погрожували втратою роботи. Для нас,
американців, це не лише порушення прав людини на свободу релігії, але й
порушення основних прав людини”, – наголошує Митрополит Йоан Нотаро.
Автор листа висловлює тривогу за долю духовенства та вірних
цієї Церкви і запитує, „як уряд США може вкладати кошти в Україну, коли
керівництво цієї країни продовжує порушувати права людини, зокрема
право на свободу совісті та віросповідання”.
Митрополит Йоан Нотаро вважає, що в Україні переслідують також
римо-католиків, юдеїв, представників Руської Істинно-Православної
Церкви, Вірменської апостольської Церкви.
Довідка РІСУ
: Редакція не володіє інформацією про структуру та
чисельність цієї Церкви як в США , так і в Україні. У листі також не
вказано імен згаданих у ньому єпископів.
Окрім того, з 1 вересня 2005 року новостворений Державний департамент у
справах релігій очолює Володимир Бондарчук. Віктор Бондаренко був
головою Державного комітету у справах релігій, ліквідованого навесні
2005 року.