Letter to the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych
Lvov, 3 July 2012
President of Ukraine
Viktor Yanukovych
Mr President,
we, members of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate, make this appeal to You. The Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate in Ukraine is a moral force which defends moral, spiritual and Christian values. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church headed by Cardinal Husar and Archbishop Shevchuk have already for three years manipulated the government agencies into transgressing the laws of Ukraine and preventing legal registration of the Ukrainian orthodox Greek-Catholic Church (UO GCC), which is part of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate. UO GCC came into existence by separating from the UGCC headed by Cardinal L. Husar. The reason was Cardinal Husar’s proclamation of heresies. Our Church is no sect, as Cardinal Husar and his hierarchy label us. These hierarchs engage in intrigues to prevent the registration of our Church, exploiting state authorities for their own ends, which is contrary to the Ukrainian laws.
Let us recall some cases:
1) On 30 July 2009, an officer of the Regional State Administration of Lvov misused his authority, conspired with the police and broke into the convent of religious sisters. They created a scandal and violently, amid noise and shouting, took away one of our religious sisters. The matter was brought to the Prosecutor General’s Office but this crime against the sisters’ monastery has not been investigated up to this day.
2) In 2010, Chortkiv Eparchy of the UGCC stole a chapel which was not its property but the property of the community of believers. After due consideration in a church assembly, the community was split in two and according to justice they were to take turns in using the chapel. During the night, the hierarchy broke into the chapel, picking and changing the locks with the purpose of preventing celebration of liturgies for the orthodox believers of the UO GCC. This hierarchy committed a series of gross acts of violence which also resulted in physical injuries (see http://uogcc.org/ua/video/index.php/article/.3740/). Instead of intervening in order to stop “lynch violence” against our faithful, the police sat on their hands.
3) In 2011, the cross was removed from our chapel in Lvov, Pluhova Street, and desecrated. Patriarch Elijah was called to the scene of events. Husar’s hierarchy abused the police for groundless detention of the defenceless Patriarch. He was held at the police department the whole night and the next evening a frame-up trial was conducted (court decision = a fine of 50 hryvnas).
4) This hierarchy prevented celebration of liturgies in our chapel, picked the door locks or hermetically sealed them.
5) This hierarchy abused Mayor of Lvov A. Sadovyi, demanding that he should bring an action against us and make us lower the walls of the chapel by one metre. This nonsense was intended to prevent celebration of liturgies in the chapel. Therefore, our faithful now gather for liturgies in the open air near the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, which was owned by the city of Lvov, and they apply for alternate use of this church.
6) At the request of the Church hierarchy, Visa Department in Lvov has imposed an unlawful ban on entry of Patriarch Elijah to Ukraine for a term of 5 years. The Patriarch has appealed to court; the proceedings continue.
7) Husar’s hierarchy exerted strong pressure on the Director of Museums, a hero of Ukraine, Mr Voznytskyi, for the reason that he had rented a church to us in Pidhirtsi. Before his death, he told us: “I cannot endure that strong pressure from churchmen.” Soon after, he died of a heart attack.
8) This hierarchy manipulates state authorities. Example: the town of Brody. We built a chapel on private property and the clergy manipulated the authorities not to allow us to perform our religious duties – celebration of liturgy in our chapel. This is discrimination.
9) Several so-called pastoral letters (Husar, Voznyak, Alexyichuk…) and a number of articles in religious journals have been issued which defame us and call us a sect with the aim of destroying us. In fact, it is unjustified inflammation of religious enmity against our religious minority.
10) Last month Husar’s hierarchy abused Express journal which unleashed a smear campaign against us and changed public opinion. We were absurdly and mendaciously labelled as a sect practising ritual murders and other fabricated crimes. In the articles appears the name of the observer and speaker of the UGCC who grossly defames us. Further evidence of UGCC’s participation in the crime is article by ZIK about 20 priests of the UGCC present at the round table in the newsroom of Express journal. We have brought legal action against the journal.
11) By its telecast of 26 June 2012, the television channel LTB 12 gave publicity to all lies and defamations printed in the Express. In addition, it libelled us when it falsely stated that we use psychotropic drugs to manipulate the believers. One of the two speakers present in the studio, who defamed us, was an UGCC representative, a lecturer at the Ukrainian Catholic University, M. Perun.
12) The final blow is the fact that the Сhurch hierarchy headed by the Archbishop of Lvov, I. Voznyak, abuses the Lvov Regional Council. Before the election, at the request of the most powerful Church in Western Ukraine, the Regional Council in Lvov voted through an appeal by Voznyak and fully supported it. This is pre-election manipulation. The appeal is addressed to the President, the Cabinet and the Security Service of Ukraine. It is based on false information provided by Archbishop Voznyak and it demands: “objective examination of the activity of the religious group headed by Patriarch Elijah (A. Dohnal), a citizen of the Czech Republic, on the territory of Lvov Region”.
What crimes does the UGCC leadership commit against our religious minority?
a) Infringement on fundamental human rights concerning freedom of conscience and religion.
b) Multiple religious discrimination against our UO GCC.
c) Multiple inflammation of religious enmity.
d) Degradation by libel and lies of Head of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate, Patriarch Elijah, a bishop, doctor of theology and a long-time defender of Christian and moral values.
We appeal to You, Mr President to take the following measures by authority of Your office:
– to stop this smear campaign and illegal activity;
– to investigate criminal defamation and inflammation of religious enmity against our UO GCC;
– to issue an order that discrimination against our Church be stopped and the UO GCC be legally registered.
Thank You in advance for Your intervention in ceasing the criminal campaign against the UO GCC religious minority.
+ Methodius OSBMr + Timothy OSBMr
Secretary Bishops of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
Cc:
– President of the Czech Republic, V?clav Klaus
– Nigel Farage, MEP
– U.S. Congressman Steve Cohen
