The representatives of different faiths discussed the issue of helping the needy in the winter period and a number of issues of post-war reconstruction in Ukraine.
This is reported by the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches’s press service.
These issues were discussed at the meeting, which took place on December 13, 2022 in Kyiv under the chairmanship of the Bishop of the Ukrainian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Markos Ohanessyan.
The participants held consultations on legislative initiatives in the religious sphere, emphasizing the value of religious freedom, legality of the right of the Ukrainian state and people to self-defense against Russian armed aggression, and equality of all before the law, regardless of religious affiliation and spiritual rank.
Members of the Council of Churches noted the opacity of the process of preparation for the second reading and the hasty vote on the draft Law on Media, due to which the proposals of the religious circles and warnings regarding certain problematic provisions of the draft law were ignored.
Religious figures also considered the issue of the shortcomings of the judicial reform in Ukraine and adopted a corresponding appeal.
Members of the Council shared experience in organizing heating points at religious communities of various denominations, taking into account Russia’s ongoing terrorist attacks on critical infrastructure facilities. In addition, religious communities will continue to provide charitable assistance to civilians and military personnel during the winter period and will help solve housing problems for internally displaced persons.
To this end, the Council of Churches appealed to the government to maintain non-commercial tariffs for natural gas and electricity, which were applied this year for religious organizations, so that they could implement the mentioned social projects in the winter period, as well as continue to provide spiritual and humanitarian assistance to the needy.
The Council expressed gratitude to the Union of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine and the Conference of European Rabbis for providing humanitarian aid to Ukrainian religious communities in the form of generators.
It was announced that the rotation of the chairman of the Council will take place from January 1, 2023. The new chairman of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations will be the bishop of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church, Vyacheslav Horpynchuk.
