From “mine-clearing of hearts” to marijuana legalization: All-Ukrainian Council of Churches discussed challenges with Avakov

The leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs discussed with the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations the directions and practical frameworks of further cooperation.

The meeting took place on September 17 in the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs under the chairmanship of Minister Arsen Avakov and Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church Vitaly Krivitsky, Chairman of the AUCCRO, according to the Institute for Religious Freedom.

The Minister of the Internal Affairs supported the proposal of religious leaders to expand chaplaincy.

“In conditions of war in the East and future peace, the role of the Churches is very important. A comfortable format of cooperation will be developed, within which the chaplain activity will be expanded to other units subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, including the National Police,” Arsen Avakov said.

Special attention was paid to the problems of re-socialization of combatants, especially in providing them with pastoral and psychological assistance in overcoming psychotrauma and post-traumatic stress disorders.

In the context of peace-building and reintegration of the inhabitants of the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, the chairman of the Council Vitaly Krivitsky has noted that there is not only a problem of mine-clearing of territories of the fighting but also the need to perform mine-clearing of hearts” of the people who have long been cut off from life in the Ukrainian context. According to the Bishop, the all-Ukrainian Council of Churches and religious organizations can play an important role to this end.

Metropolitan Augustine of Bila Tserkva and Boguslav of the UOC-MP urged the Ministry of Internal Affairs to act impartially and protect the rights of believers in cases of property conflicts. Minister Arsen Avakov responded to this: "The Ministry of Internal Affairs has no privileges for any Church or religious organization. It will ensure the rights of everyone.”

In addition, at the suggestion of the Deputy Senior Bishop of the Ukrainian Church of Evangelical Christians Anatoly Kozachok, the meeting participants discussed the possibility of police interaction with chaplains during the response to cases of domestic violence in order to peacefully resolve conflict situations and prevent their recurrence.

As MIA and the National Police have powers to control the observance of the Law of Ukraine "On Protection of Public Morality" priest of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church Fr Oleksa Petriv drew the attention of the Ministry on the importance of fulfilling the functions previously exercised by the liquidated National Expert Commission on Protection of Public Morality.

Among other things, the parties discussed the issues of rehabilitation of drug and alcohol addicts, particularly in the church institutions of resocialization. The leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs considers important this kind of social work performed by Churches and religious organizations but stressed the importance of compliance with legal requirements for the establishments of such institutions.

“It is a priority for us to protect young people from drug addiction. This cannot be done exclusively by coercion. Such health facilities should be introduced, and the main task of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not to violate human rights there, " Minister Arsen Avakov said.

When asked by the Minister about the AUCCRO's attitude towards the proposal to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, religious leaders said that this decision cannot be taken without a comprehensive study of this issue and coordination of such an approach that would not lead to a deterioration of the situation with drug addiction, especially for young people.

For the purpose of practical implementation of the designated areas of cooperation, Archbishop Yevstratiy (Zorya), Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, proposed to set up a specialized Public Council with the participation of representatives of different faiths or narrow-profile working groups.

The result of the previous meeting of the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and SSU in November 2018, certain agreements were reached to solve the problem of photographing on the passport of a citizen of Ukraine and other identity documents in religious clothing, in particular hats, inherent in different religious traditions. The corresponding order of MIA is now being prepared for signing.