RISU.ORG.UA- The Synod of Bishops of the UGCC on 3 September addressed Ukraine's president to express its deep concern over the statement of the representative office of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Odesa of 1 September saying that Greek Catholics in Odesa carry out proselytism and that they may not have their own church or even prayer house there. The bishops of the UGCC from Ukraine and many countries of Europe, North and South America and Australia noted that they expect "an authoritative reaction" from Viktor Yanukovych to the situation regarding the allotment of land for the construction of a Greek Catholic church in Odesa.
The address of the Synod of the UGCC to the head of state stresses that the mentioned statement of the press service of the Odesa Eparchy of the UOC "contains crying violations of the Constitution of Ukraine and the inter-confessional peace which has been established in Ukraine in the recent years."
The authors of the address to the president refer to Article 24 of the Constitution of Ukraine according to which "citizens have equal constitutional rights and freedoms and are equal before the law" and therefore, "there can be no privileges or limitations according to ... religious and other beliefs." However, it follows from the statement issued by Metropolitan Ahafanhel that only the Orthodox of the Moscow Patriarchate should be granted some special privileges in the Odesa Region, whereas the Greek Catholics, who total over ten thousand in Odesa and its suburbs according to official statistics, should be deprived even of the right to have "even a prayer house."
According to the bishops of the UGCC, neither does Metropolitan Ahafangel pay attention to the provisions of Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine, which says that "the Church and religious organizations are separated from the state." According to the hierarchs of the UGCC, the statement of Metropolitan Ahafanhel openly puts pressure on the state authorities who are in charge of allocating a plot for the construction of the church of the UGCC as it publicly spreads irresponsible statements that such construction should be considered "unreasonable and very dangerous."
The bishops of the UGCC also called unacceptable the statement that "the construction of the cathedral of the UGCC in Orthodox Odesa will cause indignation and protest from the clergy and Orthodox believers of the Odesa Region, will create in our peaceful city a situation of interreligious conflict, and will not be conducive to strengthening peace and social agreement in the Odesa Region."
The bishops of the UGCC view the content and tone of the statement as a conscious and deliberate stirring of inter-confessional intolerance in the residents of Odesa and describe it as an open attempt at "stirring up religious hatred," which is in contradiction with the spirit and letter of Article 37 of the Constitution of Ukraine.
The bishops of the UGCC assured the president of their prayers and due respect and stressed that they expect a due response from the head of the state to the behaviour of the Odesa Eparchy of the UOC.