The vicar of the Metropolitanate of Kiev and head of the Monastery of the Tithes, Bishop Gideon, has sent U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the U.S. Congress a Ukrainian Orthodox Church request to look into violations of believers’ rights and freedoms.
On Tuesday, February 5, 2019, the bishop spoke to Congress about Ukrainian authorities’ discrimination of the canonical Church, a statement on the monastery’s website said. He said supporters of the new Ukrainian church had violated international law and the Constitution and that radical members and the authorities had committed aggression against the canonical Church, assaulting congregants and clergy and attacking churches.
U.S. officials promised to look into the situation and help the Church set up a representative mission in the U.S., the statement said.
“It turned out that the Congressmen did not possess full information about the religious conflict in Ukraine. They expressed regret over the violation of believers’ constitutional rights,” the statement said.
(Source: Interfax Religion)