Ukrainian Council of Churches prepare proposals for dialogue with new President

The next meeting of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations will adopt an appeal to President of Ukraine Poroshenko, including a list of current issues of church-state relations.

It was decided by representatives of churches and religious organizations at the meeting of the Secretariat of the Council on Thursday, June 26, 2014, reports the Institute for Religious Freedom.

Also the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations submitted an appeal to the President, Government and Parliament with a request to prevent the liquidation of the National Commission on Public Ethics.

The representatives of different confessions expressed concern that the media business lobbyists on behalf of various public organizations were trying to eliminate any boundaries of decency in the media. In their opinion, the initiative to abolish the Law of Ukraine On Protection of Public Morality and eliminate the respective Commission ignored the opinion of the respective parent and religious communities, because arbitrariness of media space in Ukraine carries threats to the education of children and the development of society as a whole.

The meeting also discussed the relationship with the state. The representatives also emphasized that engagement of the churches in the political process and interference in their internal affairs is unacceptable.

However, the Council’s Secretariat welcomed the proposal of the President of Ukraine to churches and religious organizations to contribute to the implementation of the peace plan in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

On June 25, Petro Poroshenko suggested that clergymen supported the people held captive by militants and facilitated dialogue for their release. “To my understanding, this is a service of God that today Ukraine, its people and hostages need”, he said.