Pope Francis condemns Kiev's ban on Ukrainian Orthodox Church
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Ukrainian leader Zelensky approved the bill banning the church on Kiev's independence day from the Soviet Union.
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Pope Francis delivers his Urbi et Orbi Blessing, after celebrating Easter Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in The Vatican on April 4, 2021. (AFP)
Pope Francis condemned Kiev's legislative ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on Sunday during his weekly prayers.
"Do not touch churches," the pope said, one day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky enacted the bill into the legislation on the country's independence day from the Soviet Union.
"In thinking of the law recently adopted in Ukraine, I fear for the liberty of those who pray," the Catholic Church leader added.
Ukraine has sought to distance itself from the church since 2014. The efforts were expedited following the start of its war with Russia in February 2022.
Although the church severed ties with the Moscow Patriarchate in 2022, Ukrainian officials continue to accuse its clerics of being loyal to Russia, and have repeatedly persecuted them.
Commenting on the ongoing conflict between the two countries, the pope said he continued to follow developments "with sorrow."
Medvedev condemns Ukraine’s crackdown on Orthodox Church as 'satanism'
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has condemned Ukraine's recent actions against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) as "satanism" and a move to "outdo the atheism of the Soviet period."
In a harsh critique, Medvedev stated that while the Soviet Union, despite its atheist stance, did not ban religions, the current Ukrainian authorities, which he dubbed "neo-Nazi', appeared to be undertaking a more extreme approach.
"This vile story was started, as we know, by Poroshenko," Medvedev declared.
He accused Ukrainian officials of launching a "vile story" against the UOC, a campaign he attributes to former President Petro Poroshenko. "In order to please his own ambitions and to be elected president of Ukraine, he agreed with the West on a split in Orthodoxy and the creation of the heretical PCU," Medvedev explained.
