A US politician demanded that Kiev protect the UOC and repeal Law No. 3894

Katherine Whiteford, leader of the youth wing of the Republican Party of the United States and representative of the Society of St. John of Shanghai, voiced a number of demands in defense of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) at a rally near the White House on December 16, 2025. She called on the Ukrainian authorities to suspend and repeal Law No. 3894, the immediate release of Metropolitan Arseniy and strict compliance with Ukraine’s constitutional and international religious freedom obligations.

According to the SPJ in the USA, Catherine Whiteford emphasized that the discussion of the current situation should not be conducted in the context of geopolitics, but based on the principles of human dignity and religious freedom. She clarified that her organization does not oppose the people of Ukraine and is not pro-Russian. «We are here for one reason only: to defend the universal principle of religious freedom and to speak openly about those cases when this principle is violated, even if it happens on the part of governments that we otherwise support,» Whiteford said.

The politician drew particular attention to Law No. 3894, which, she said, effectively eliminates Ukraine’s largest and oldest denomination, seeking to drive the entire Church underground. She cited alarming facts of persecution: UOC clergymen are detained and sent to the front, Metropolitan Arseniy has been in detention for more than 18 months and needs urgent medical care, and the 80-year-old Primate of the UOC, Metropolitan Onufriy, was stripped of his citizenship by a decree of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Catherine Whiteford also pointed to the seizure of churches and monasteries, often violently, with police inaction. The faithful are forced to pray in basements and private apartments, where they are harassed by security services and hostile media. «I want to remind you that we are not talking about North Korea or China — all of this is happening in a country that the United States considers an ally,» she emphasized.

Whiteford noted that the United Nations, human rights organizations and Christian churches around the world have condemned Act 3894 as a gross violation of religious freedom. «It is impossible to defend freedom while at the same time destroying it,» she stated. — Religious freedom is not a luxury that can be abolished in times of war. On the contrary, it is in times of war that it is most needed.»

In light of these circumstances, the Society of St. John made the following demands to the U.S. government, calling for them to be considered in future policy: suspend and repeal Law No. 3894; seek the immediate release of Metropolitan Arseniy and an end to the forced mobilization of clergy; and insist that Ukraine meet its constitutional and international religious freedom obligations with real accountability mechanisms. «Faith is not a crime, tradition is not treason, and religious freedom is not an option,» Catherine Whiteford concluded.

Recall, earlier we reported that in Washington, D.C., representatives of various Orthodox churches and Christian communities organized a «Day of Action of Orthodox Christians and their allies» to draw attention to the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The event, held on December 16, 2025 on Capitol Hill, drew about 200 participants. They held dozens of meetings with members of Congress and visited all House and Senate offices, urging lawmakers to protect the rights of believers.