A forum called “In Defense of the Kyiv Patriarchate” will be held in Kyiv on December 20, Honored Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) Filaret told a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.
“We have gathered today before the forum that is to be held in the Ukrainian House on December 20, 2019. It will be a forum for the Ukrainian, Kyiv Patriarchate,” Filaret said.
The Kyiv Patriarchate needs to be protected because “external and internal forces are aimed at destroying it,” he said.
The honored patriarch also said the forum participants will issue an address to the people. “But besides that, we are also addressing the president, asking him as a guarantor of the Constitution to preserve religious freedom in Ukraine. If Ukraine has freedom of religion, the Kyiv Patriarchate’s registration cannot be cancelled,” Filaret said.
The cancellation of the Kyiv Patriarchate’s registration is a breach of freedom of conscience, and it was done illegally, he said.
“Besides, we intend to address the global public, in particular, the OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] concerning human rights, address the United Nations also concerning human rights in order to defend our religious rights,” Filaret said.
The purpose of such addresses is “to reinstate the registration of the Kyiv Patriarchate,” he said. “We are also asking the Culture Ministry to return this registration to us and we are asking the president to promote the supremacy of law,” Filaret said.
