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Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Ukraine's Catholics tend to faithful driven out by Russian occupation
* Ukraine's Catholics tend to faithful driven out by Russian occupation Photo essay: By Thomas Peter and Aleksandar Vasovic ZORIZHZHIA, - About 25 miles from a slowly advancing Russian frontline, a community of Ukrainian Catholics is tending to people exiled from occupied territory to the country's eastern city of Zaporizhzhia. Church members deliver humanitarian aid to Ukrainian troops and villages near the frontline and nuns offer comfort to families and especially children fleeing the war. "When kids come, especially little ones, they feel safe and cling to us, needing hugs and warmth. New kids always need that embrace," said Sister Lukia Murashko, the mother superior at Zaporizhzhia's Order of Saint Basil the Great monastery. The monastery provides a cheerful environment adorned with Ukrainian flags and greeting cards from soldiers. In June, Sister Lukia and two other nuns made a cake for the 15th birthday of Evhen, a boy who fled the occupied city of Melitopol with his mother and now lives in a drab hostel in Zaporizhzhia. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, a Ukrainian denomination loyal to the Vatican named for its rites similar to eastern Orthodox churches, has over 4 million followers in Ukraine and is the country's largest branch of Catholicism. Orthodox Christianity remains the most popular religion but has declined during the past decade amid tensions over ties to Moscow. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church has grown and its followers now make up 12% of the population, according to a 2024 study by the Razumkov Centre, a Ukrainian think-tank. Catholicism is traditionally predominant in Ukraine's West, but has been growing in the East of the country, much of which Russia claims as its own, including lands it occupied in 2014 and in the 2022 full-scale invasion. Moscow does not control Zaporizhzhia city and it has become a centre for internally displaced Ukrainians from occupied territories. With membership growing, the wooden St. Volodymyr chapel is getting an extension in the city, where Roman Catholicism also has a small presence. During a visit in June, about two dozen faithful and three priests in gold-brocade vestments observed a Divine Liturgy conducted by Father Andriy Bukhvak in the chapel, most of them among the displaced. After Russia occupied most of Zaporizhzhia region in 2022, it installed an administration that banned the Ukrainian Catholic Church and Catholic charities in a December 6, 2022 decree, saying they worked in the interests of foreign intelligence services and stored weapons. The decree accused parishioners of participating "in riots and anti-Russian rallies in March-April 2022." The office of the Russia-installed governor of the occupied area of Zaporizhzhia region did not immediately respond to a detailed request for comment. Father Oleksandr Bohomaz, 36, served in Melitopol, a coastal city in Zaporizhzhia region, for nine months after Russia took the town on March 1 that year along with two other priests, caring for four parishes and faithful who could not flee after authorities cracked down on the church there, he said. "We travelled around, serving as much as possible until they eventually deported us," he told Reuters. During his time under occupation, he said, the authorities stormed church services, collecting fingerprints from worshippers. In December 2022, he was interrogated and taken to a checkpoint where he was told to cross to the territory under Ukrainian control. Other Catholic priests in the Zaporizhzhia region suffered harsher treatment. In November 2022, Russia's troops raided a Greek Catholic church in Berdiansk, a city about 100 km along the coast from Melitopol. Two priests, Ivan Levitsky and Bohdan Geleta, were arrested on illegal weapons charges. They were not freed until a June 2024 exchange of Ukrainian and Russian prisoners, according to a December 2024 report by the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. The church denied the weapons charges. HOLY STRIFE Religion has become intertwined with the war. In Moscow, the Russian Orthodox Church's Patriarch Kirill has given his blessing to the invasion of Ukraine, which he calls a Holy War. Last August, Ukrainian authorities banned the Ukrainian Orthodox Church , a minority branch of the Orthodox religion in the country that they said was loyal to Moscow. In 2023, Ukraine placed a senior UOC cleric, Metropolitan Pavlo, under house arrest. The UOC says it has cut canonical ties to the Russian church and is the victim of a political witch hunt. The International Religious Freedom and Belief Alliance , a U.S. State Department-backed initiative of 43 countries promoting freedom of religion, has accused Russia of widespread religious persecution in Ukraine. In a February report, IRFBA said Russian troops had killed 67 clergy of various denominations since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, without giving specifics. IRFBA said more than 630 religious buildings had been damaged during the Russian occupation, including 596 Christian churches. Reuters was unable to independently verify IRFBA's claims, which have been repeated by Ukrainian officials. Russia's Foreign Ministry has described the alliance's reports as based on partisan and biased information, and said any actions were taken in accordance with the law. The Ukrainian Catholic Donetsk Exarchate, the body of the church in much of East Ukraine, has operated in exile in Zaporizhzhia since 2014. Out of 77 parishes, 36 are under control of the Russian authorities, it said. Stepan Meniok, 75, who was the bishop heading the Donetsk Exarchate until his retirement in 2024, said that when Russia-led separatists took over the eastern city of Donetsk in 2014 they drove him from the diocese's seat. He settled in Zaporizhzhia. "Many displaced people pass through here, and I've heard countless stories of loss: property, lives," he said, adding he hoped for peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow. Father Bohomaz said Russian authorities saw the Ukrainian Catholic church as a threat because it was outspoken against the occupation. "We see our people being beaten, killed, robbed, and destroyed," he said. "We stand with the people." This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Russia's persecution of Ukrainian clergy is part of an organized genocidal campaign
In 1953, Polish-American lawyer Raphael Lemkin, the man who coined the term "genocide," wrote a text titled Soviet Genocide in Ukraine. In it, Lemkin spoke not only about the Holodomor — the man-made famine organized in Ukraine by Stalin in 1932–1933 that claimed the lives of around 4 million people — but also about the Kremlin's broader genocidal practices against Ukrainians, which, he argued, had begun as early as the 1920s. Lemkin wrote that Ukrainians were too numerous to be exterminated entirely in the way Adolf Hitler had attempted with Europe's Jewish population. "Ukraine is highly susceptible to racial murder by select parts, and so the Communist tactics there have not followed the pattern taken by the German attacks against the Jews," the lawyer argued. He went on to describe how this was carried out: "The first blow is aimed at the intelligentsia, the national brain, so as to paralyze the rest of the body.... Going along with this attack on the intelligentsia was an attack against the churches, priests and hierarchy, the 'soul' of Ukraine." As an example of this attack against the "soul of the nation," Lemkin cited the liquidation of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Catholic Church. "That Russification was clearly demonstrated by the fact that before its liquidation, the Church was offered the opportunity to join the Russian Patriarchate of Moscow, the Kremlin's political tool," he emphasized. We are bringing back Lemkin's text again today, not for purely historical reasons. It helps explain what the Kremlin is currently doing in the territories of Ukraine it occupies. We already referenced Soviet Genocide in Ukraine last year. In our investigative documentary Destroy in Whole or in Part, we argued that Russia's current genocidal practices in Ukraine broadly mirror what the Soviet regime has been doing a century back. Our latest investigative documentary, No God but Theirs, which has just been released, compels us to revisit Lemkin's analysis once more. Read also: Breakaway churches, spiritual awakenings, prayers in captivity. How war is changing Ukraine's faith This investigation examines the systematic persecution of Ukrainian Christians in Melitopol — a city in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Oblast, occupied by Russia since February 2022. It tells the story of churches (Protestant and Catholic alike) being banned, stripped of all property, and of priests and congregants being arrested, interrogated, and exiled. While restrictions on religious freedoms are typical for Russia, the persecution in the occupied parts of Ukraine goes far beyond what occurs inside Russia itself. And these persecutions indeed resemble an attack on the "soul of the nation" — precisely the kind Lemkin described. It is an attack on Christians who, at the very outset of Russia's invasion, demonstrated a clear national identity. In response to the arrival of Russian troops and tanks in Melitopol, local believers began gathering daily on the city's central square. Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians together resisted the Russian occupation through joint prayer for Ukraine. Moreover, in the chaos created by the Russian occupation, churches became islands of stability and order. Priests and pastors were seen more and more as moral authorities. For the Russians, therefore, to attack those churches in Melitopol meant also to strike against any alternative centers of power. And the parallels with Lemkin's text do not end there. Just as a hundred years back, as described by the author of the term "genocide," before simply banning the churches, the Russians attempted to absorb them first. Pastor Mykhailo Brytsyn of the Grace Baptist Church recounts in our documentary how the Russian troops offered him a chance to publicly support the Russian authorities. Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest Oleksandr Bohomaz tells how agents of Russian security services tried to coerce him into revealing the secrets of his confessional. Pentecostal pastor Dmytro Bodyu describes how, during his imprisonment and interrogations, he was offered the chance to become a Russian informant. Only after these efforts to convert Ukrainian clergymen in Melitopol into Russian assets had failed did Kremlin representatives decide to simply eliminate them — once again, fully following the model Lemkin described. And there is another crucial point to highlight. While restrictions on religious freedoms are typical for Russia, the persecution in the occupied parts of Ukraine goes far beyond what occurs inside Russia itself. This means that in places like occupied Melitopol, Russia is not merely replicating its usual policies — it is crafting a new, much harsher one specifically for Ukrainians. Given all this, our new investigation of the persecution of Ukrainian Christian churches in Melitopol is a direct continuation of the previous documentary, which laid out the genocidal intent behind Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Because, in line with Raphael Lemkin's deep and nuanced analysis, these persecutions amount to an attack on the Ukrainian nation as a group. An attempt to eradicate the soul of the Ukrainian nation — with the broader aim of destroying the nation in whole or in part. Ultimately, the story of the persecution of Christians in Melitopol gives yet another reason to finally dare to use, in reference to Russia's actions in Ukraine, the very word that Lemkin coined — genocide. Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent. Read also: Faith under fire: Russia's war on religion in Ukraine's occupied territories Submit an Opinion We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rep. DeLauro joins Ukrainian Americans speaking out against Trump's treatment of Zelenskyy
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Ukrainian Americans and their supporters spoke out Friday morning at a press conference in New Haven City Hall. They were joined by U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D- 3rd District), who called President Donald Trump's treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 'shameful.' What they said: Trump, Zelenskyy and Vance's heated argument in the Oval Office 'We live in an upside-down world where lies and disinformation is being presented as fact and truth,' said Myron Melnyk, a member of Saint Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church. Ukrainian-Americans like him are still reacting to the scene in the oval office a week ago, where President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance berated the president of Ukraine. 'They delivered a propaganda gift to Vladimir Putin by staging an ambush, yes an ambush, of President Zelenskyy,' DeLauro said. She pointed out the Trump administration has also pulled funding for Ukraine, stopped sharing intelligence with the Ukrainian military, and is questioning the legal status of Ukrainian refugees now living in the United States. Trump and Zelenskyy through the years: From a 'perfect' call to pausing US assistance to Ukraine 'Democrats would better serve the US and Ukrainian people's interests if they encouraged President Zelenskyy to come back to the U.S., sign the mineral rights agreement and help President Trump bring about a ceasefire and work towards a peace agreement as quickly as possible,' Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Ben Proto said in a statement. 'The best aid we can provide Ukraine is to help end the conflict.' Congresswoman DeLauro said she has met with Zelenskyy and knows his plans were upended by the heated White House interaction. 'He was ready to sign a treaty, and I'm hopeful in that treaty,' DeLauro said. 'I don't know what the details are, that he hasn't given up more than he should in terms of the defense of his own country.' In the meantime, local groups continue to send supplies and money to Ukraine. 'To date we have sent over 14 containers worth of supplies of all kinds: Coats, toothbrushes, such things as generators and air conditioners,' Carl Harvey of the Ukrainian American Veterans said. Local groups like his say they are going to continue to send supplies and money to Ukraine because, they say, that country may need them now more than ever. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Vigils held across Connecticut as Russia-Ukraine war enters third year
CONNECTICUT (WTNH) — Monday marks three years since Russia invaded Ukraine. The two countries have been at war since 2014. Vigils and calls for peace happened across Connecticut. 'The time to speak out is now,' U.S. Army Veteran Myron Melnyk said. Prayer service in New Haven marks 3 years of war in Ukraine St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church lead a somber prayer Monday to honor the tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives lost since Russia's invasion three years ago. Ties in Connecticut are deeply personal as many do what they can from here including the Ukrainian American Veterans Post 33 in New Haven working with revive soldiers Ukraine to get the injured medical treatment. 'Hopefully be getting two soldiers in New Haven with Senator Blumenthal's help,' Carl Harvey with Post 33 said. Others pushing on their local delegation to continue support. 'The time to speak out is now,' Melnyk said. 'It would be a sign of weakness for the United States to abandon Ukraine.' The Trump Administration said Monday they are trying to end the war. 'It's time to end this bloodletting and restore peace and I think we're going to do it. When I got here, one of the first calls I made was to President Putin, and we were treated with great respect. And they want to, they want to end this war.' The U.S.-Ukrainian relationship has strained since inauguration day. Russia-Ukraine war enters third year President Trump blamed Ukraine for the war and called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator. Zelenskyy asked for continued U.S. support and a seat at the negotiating table. 'We believe that real and lasting peace is possible if we stand together,' Zelenskyy said. After visiting Ukraine six times in the last few years, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) agrees and wants to unite to defend democracy. 'Their fight is our fight. The fight for freedom,' Blumenthal said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
