Ukrainian President’s Meeting with Heads of Denominations: Is there really a dialogue between the government and the churches

A regular meeting of the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych with the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (AUCCRO) was held on October 17. This is the head of state’s second meeting in 2012 with the heads of denominations – members of the AUCCRO (the previous meeting was on March 21) and the third of his presidency (the first meeting was held on April 21, 2011). Also, on April 10, 2012, President Yanukovych met with the heads of the churches who signed a joint appeal to amend the order of pardoning convicts and about the pardon of Tymoshenko.

On the eve of the president’s meeting with the heads of denominations

His intention to meet with the heads of denominations again before the end of the year, Yanukovych announced at the last meeting in March 2012. Then the president offered to meet with leaders of churches and religious organizations in August in Crimea. After consultation with representatives of denominations, however, it was decided to hold the meeting in Kyiv.

Yanukovych’s last meeting with AUCCRO was held against the backdrop of these events:

• The elections to the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine, which will be held October 28, 2012;
• The adoption by the parliamentary majority on October 16, 2012, of amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations" (bill no. 10221).

The author of this bill is the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Verkhovna Rada and people's deputy Yurii Miroshnychenko, but the actual developer of the project is the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. The bill amends various legislative acts of Ukraine (36 laws) to bring them in line with administrative reform, including the basic law on freedom of religion.

On June 5, 2012, bill no. 10221 in a simplified procedure was adopted by the Parliament in the first reading, despite the fact that the Committee on Culture and Spirituality recommended the bill be rejected. Representatives of faiths held a series of consultations with the deputy Yurii Miroshnychenko and representatives of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Culture on the inadmissibility of the adopted amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations." As a result, an agreement was reached with the Ministry of Justice and deputy Yurii Miroshnychenko on leaving the Law on Freedom of Conscience unchanged. Furthermore, the AUCCRO’s written proposals for the text of the bill for the second reading were supported and registered in the Verkhovna Rada. On October 16, 2012, however, the pro-government majority in the parliament adopted the original version of the bill as a law – without any discussion and despite the absence of the table of amendments for the second reading.

It should be noted that the mere fact of the submission to Parliament of a bill, which includes amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations" by the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Parliament is a violation of a promise that President Yanukovych made during his meeting with AUCCRO on April 21, 2011. Then the president of Ukraine assured the heads of churches and religious organizations that the law on freedom of conscience will not be amended in the absence of support from the denominations.

The amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations" that the Parliament adopted include the following:

• complicated registration procedures for religious organizations to obtain legal status, and amendments to their statutes;
• legislative strengthening of permits for religious organizations to hold public religious activities, in violation of Article 39 of the Constitution of Ukraine;
• the granting of control over the observance of religious freedom legislation to the prosecutor, the central authorities that shape and implement policy in the religious sphere, and other central executive bodies and local authorities.

Thus the adopted amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations" are aimed at restricting religious freedom and increasing the government’s ability to influence the religious environment.

Position of the President at Meeting with Heads of Denominations

At the meeting with AUCCRO, President Yanukovych touched mostly upon current church-state issues and sociopolitical relations, including:

• Regarding the fate of the Law "On the Unified State Demographic Register" (bill No. 10492): question of the use of veto;
• On the approval by the government of the State Program of Development of the Ukrainian Language with its funding each year and to complete work on the draft amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On the Principles of State Language Policy";
• On the importance of making decisions on resonant bills considering public opinion (in particular the Law of Ukraine "On Prevention and Combating Discrimination in Ukraine" and on the draft law No. 8711 on the protection of children from homosexual propaganda, adopted in the first reading);
• On guaranteeing equal rights and conditions for all denominations in Ukraine;
• On not using the authority of the churches, their organizational structures, and religious symbolism in political campaigning for the parliamentary elections;
• On a constant dialogue between the authorities and denominations at the local level and the measures taken to restore the activities of the government Commission for Ensuring the Rights of Religious Organizations;
• The president expressed his support for the activity of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations at the international level;
• The President demanded that law enforcement agencies thoroughly investigate and react to the destruction by representatives of the feminist movement of a monument cross to victims of repression in Kyiv.

This last issue was the president’s own initiative, as head of denominations did not appeal to President Yanukovych in this regard and did not ask him to take any action.

Position of Heads of Denominations at Meeting with President of Ukraine

With lightning speed the heads of denominations reacted to the ruling majority’s decision to approve amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations" (bill no. 10221) and unanimously turned to Yanukovych with a "strong appeal to veto the law" regarding amendments to the basic law on freedom of religion. In turn, the President of Ukraine said that "the religious council’s idea will be important in deciding the fate of the law."

In their speeches the religious leaders also brought President Yanukovych’s attention to the following issues:

• the protection and strengthening of public morality, including in the context of maintaining the National Expert Commission of Ukraine on Protection of Public Morality;
• a set of educational issues, namely the recognition of religious organizations as subjects founding educations institutions of the state standard and the leveling of social rights of teachers and students of spiritual (religious) schools;
• the AUCCRO delegation trip to visit European institutions in December 2012, which was planned in March 2012 but was postponed due to an urgent meeting with the President of Ukraine;
• participation of official representatives of Ukraine in the international conference on restitution in November 2012 in Prague;
• the AUCCRO appeal to the president on Ukraine’s joining the Task Force for International Cooperation on Education, Remembrance and Research Holocaust;
• the approval of the state program of cultural exchange for foreign Ukrainians;
• the declaration of the Parliament of Canada to commemorate Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, adopted in April 2012;
• equal and respectful treatment by authorities of all denominations, including Evangelical Christians and Muslims.

It should be noted that at this meeting the heads of denominations did not provide the President of Ukraine with written proposals for the improvement of church-state relations in Ukraine, with the exception of an appeal about the need to veto bill No. 10221.

The last time such suggestions from the heads of churches and religious organizations were given to President Yanukovych was at the last meeting in March 2012. Of the 16 issues raised then by the heads of denominations, only one was reflected in the president’s instructions from this meeting. This is a request to intensify the work of the Commission for Ensuring the Rights of Religious Organizations, whose first session in the current composition of the Government was held on October 22, 2012.

Organizational Aspects of the President’s Meeting with Heads of Denominations

Regarding the organizational aspects of the meeting,the following deserve attention.

It is becoming common practice to invite the leaders of churches and religious organizations to a meeting with President Viktor Yanukovych only a few days before the scheduled date, which affects the pre-planned activities and mission of religious figures. Furthermore, the religious heads do not receive an indicative list of issues on the agenda of the meeting. This makes it difficult for the leaders to adequately prepare for the meeting and adversely affects their performance.

Another trend is that some of the present religious figures are not given the possibility to speak. Approximately half of the present heads of denominations did not have the possibility to give reports during the last meeting with President Yanukovych.

Also notable are the following features:

• On the official presidential website the meetings are reported as being with "leaders of churches and religious organizations," barely mentioning the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations;
• After the March 2012 meeting, the heads of denominations did not receive a copy of the president’s instruction, despite the appeal of the Secretariat of the AUCCRO to the Presidential Administration and the Ministry of Culture. In past years, participants had the opportunity to read the text of such instructions.

Conclusions

1. President Yanukovych’s meeting with heads of denominations – members of the AUCCRO – on October 17, 2012, was held in a positive atmosphere, but it lacked a strategic dimension and constructiveness. This meeting should provide an impetus for the development of a church-state dialogue at the level of central and local authorities to address pressing issues for religious organizations.

2. The approval by the pro-government majority in the Parliament of the Law of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations" (bill No. 10221) created a negative background for the meeting. However, the unanimous position of the heads and representatives of faiths on the need to veto such changes and Yanukovych’s statement that "the opinions of the council of churches will be important in deciding the fate of this law" gives hope that the president will veto this law.

3. The veto by the head of state of laws "On the Unified State Demographic Register" (bill No. 10492) and Amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations" (bill No. 10221) would be a good example for the Parliament and the Cabinet of Ministers for it would show the importance of "taking into account public opinion when making decisions on resonant bills."

4. The presentation by Yanukovych of developments in the field of language policy (draft State Program of Ukrainian Language and amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On the Principles of State Language Policy") from the side of the government looks like achievements in this field. From the point of view of the public, however, it is perceived rather as an attempt to correct the errors in connection with the adoption of the above-mentioned language law in contradiction to the position of much of the civil society, including the heads of denominations.

5. The meeting demonstrated the openness and willingness of the heads of faiths to have a dialogue with the authorities at the highest level with a clear common position. For his part, President Viktor Yanukovych this time showed more openness to a dialogue. For the effectiveness of such meetings, however, there must be a departure from the "scenario approach" in place of the introduction of the practice of open communication between the president and members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches on topical issues of church-state relations while ensuring each of the participants the opportunity to express their proposals.

6. The practical effect of the meeting will depend on how clearly and unambiguously the issues are formulated in the president’s instruction, issued as a result of the meeting, as well as the relevant central government bodies’ interest in trying to resolve the issues raised and in building relationships with representatives of religious communities.

7. The way in which officials of the Administration of the President of Ukraine and the responsible ministries and agencies will resolve the issues discussed during this meeting is also important. Usually the absence of further consultations with representatives of denominations and experts leads to a formal approach and minimalizes the positive momentum from the meeting. Building constructive and forward-looking church-state relations involves a continuous and systematic dialogue at all levels, which is key to advance the relations between the government and religious organizations as civil society institutions.