Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II condemned the ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, criticized the law No. 8371 adopted in the Verkhovna Rada aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Catholicos urged the Ukrainian government to stop persecuting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and stop violating the “historically established unity of the Orthodox community.” The position of the Catholicos was voiced by his press secretary, TASS reported.

“The Catholicos of All Armenians expressed his position on this alarming issue regarding the religious life of Ukraine, when the law on the protection of the constitutional order in the sphere of religious organizations was still under development. Unfortunately, the well-founded concerns expressed by the Armenian Church and other Churches regarding the possible undesirable consequences of the ratification of this bill and its negative impact on the spiritual and canonical life, on the Orthodox population were not echoed. The decisions were made under the influence of the current political situation. His Holiness the Catholicos of All Armenians appeals to the guests of the friendly people of Ukraine – the authorities and legislators – not to violate the historically established unity of the Orthodox community, to protect the rights of the existing religious communities, believers and clergymen, to respect the inviolability of holy places,” – said the press secretary of the AAC leader, Priest Isaiah Artenyan.

Earlier we reported that the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church His Holiness Patriarch Porfiry sent a letter to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy of Kyiv and All Ukraine, in which he expressed his support in connection with the adoption in the Verkhovna Rada of Law No. 8371, aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.