“It is impossible to do evil with prayer": the head of the Vatican spoke out against the ban of the UOC

On August 25, 2024, Pope Francis delivered an address in which he mentioned the law No. 8371 adopted in the Ukrainian Parliament aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Pope emphasized that no church in the world should be banned, as it performs prayer directed against evil and unrighteousness. The Vatican News reported that.

“I continue to follow with pain the fighting in Ukraine and in the Russian Federation, and when I think of the legislative norms recently adopted by Ukraine, I have fears for the freedom of those who pray, because the one who prays always prays for all. It is impossible to do evil by prayer. If someone commits an atrocity against his people, he will be guilty of it, but he cannot commit evil because he prayed. Therefore, let the one who wants to pray pray in the Church he considers his own. Please do not directly or indirectly abolish any Christian Church: the Churches are inviolable”, — said the Pope.

Earlier, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (AUCCRO), which includes the representative of the RCC in Ukraine, published a joint statement on the fact of the meeting with the head of state Volodymyr Zelensky. The AUCCRO said that they fully support Zelensky’s initiative to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by adopting the scandalous bill No. 8371.