President of Ukraine

                                                                                                                      Victor Yushchenko

                   An open letter concerning registration of the UOGCC

Dear Mr President,

on 13th August 2009 a manifestation against religious discrimination took place in Lvov. The reason was a criminal attack on the monastery of sisters, the responsibility for which falls on an employee of the Regional Council in Lvov, Head of Department on Matters of Nationalities and Religions, Mr R. Kurash. The placards carried the demand: registration of the UOGCC (Ukrainian orthodox Greek-Catholic Church).

On this day, 13th August 2009, You responded to the President of Russia: “The Church in Ukraine is separate from the state. Every citizen has the right to free worship. Nobody is allowed to prevent the citizens from freely professing their belief.”

We have to state that Mr J. Reshetnikov, Head of the State Committee on Matters of Nationalities and Religions, purposefully refuses to register the UOGCC and falsely claims that we violate the laws of Ukraine though he has not produced a single concrete violation on our part!

This is a public testimony to religious discrimination! The catchphrase that the aim is a split of the UGCC is groundless. Every citizen has a legal right to confess whatever religion. Unfortunately, this statement does not hold true in practice. After all, even if a religious structure was split by its members leaving it and transferring to another one, it is nothing illegal; they have a right to do so. The state guarantees respecting of their freedom, though e.g. the current official structure of the UGCC is averse to it and therefore influences the state authorities towards practical discrimination. The state, as a result, does not want to give the UGCC faithful who do not endorse heresies of their Head an opportunity to transfer to another, already established structure of the UOGCC. It refuses to register it!

The official hierarchy hinders the registration for fear of losing their profits!

Since 13th August 2009, daily from 8 am to 9 pm, the faithful stand before the Regional Council in Lvov with a placard: “Stop to discrimination! We demand registration of the UOGCC.”

On 11th September 2009, the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist, a Divine Liturgy will be celebrated before the Regional Council in Lvov by Bishop Markian OSBM (a Ukrainian) along with several priests (all of them are Ukrainians).

The protest action will continue so long until the laws of Ukraine are observed and the UOGCC is duly registered.

Hitherto the bishops of the UOGCC, five monasteries of sisters, several priests, theological school and more than one thousand believers have been artificially kept outside the law! Card. L. Husar and his people are well aware that after registration the UOGCC will be joined by a majority of the parishes, and that is their main problem. That is why they resort even to dishonest means in order to preclude lawful registration and thus also the chance of spiritual resurrection.

Mr President, before God and before the whole Ukrainian nation we call and at the same time ask You to stop discrimination and to allow lawful registration of the UOGCC.

Ukraine grants registration to Buddhists, the Hare Krishna sect, Jehovah’s Witnesses and even to diviners! Only the orthodox Catholic Christians, who up to this time have been kept under false authority like in a concentration camp, are unlawfully denied the possibility for official registration!!!

Bishops of the UOGCC

                                              + Markian OSBM

                                              + Metod?j OSBM

                                              + Samuel OSBM

                                              + Eliáš OSBM

                                                                                                   Lvov-Bryukhovychi, 8th September 2009

Copies to:

-         The Holy Father Benedict XVI

-         MPs of the Ukrainian Parliament

-         President of Russia V. Medvedev

Address: Synod of the UOGCC, 3 Sosnova St., Lvov - Bryukhovychi, 79491, Ukraine

www.community.org.ua; pidhirci.community @ org.ua