Ukraine, Montedoro (ACS): “The unity of the All-Ukrainian Council must not be dispersed, it is part of the negotiations”

The unity of efforts of the Council of Churches and Religious Organizations of Ukraine must not be lost: “The Latin Rite Catholic Lviv Archbishop and the Bishop of the Catholic Rite in Kyiv, as well as the Apostolic Ambassador, fear the tensions that have been caused by certain events and bills of a parliamentary initiative that risks tearing the fabric. The social division of Ukraine”. He talks about it with Adnkronos Alessandro Monteduro, Director of “Aid to the Church in Suffering” (Acs), who has just returned from Ukraine where he expressed his appreciation for “the tremendous efforts of churches, monasteries, monasteries and Catholic parishes that have turned into shelters and shelters for women and children from any religion or race, and who for security reasons had to leave their hometown or homeland.”

“I was struck by the way in which all the guests, rather than the homeless or refugees and how they participate in the running of the community, are called as members of a team. From the Catholics comes a daily operational activity so that it is well that the unitary characteristic represented is not dispersed. From the work of the Ukrainian General Council which In which all religious organizations present in the country are represented – Montedoro notes – however, there are some legislative proposals for a parliamentary initiative aimed at excluding Ukrainian citizenship, Ukrainians who have embraced the faith holding the Moscow Patriarchate or redefining religious freedom in the country with the confiscation of all property of religious organizations that Its government center is not located in Ukraine. But expropriation – he asserts – means undermining and disrupting unity, dividing the country. Citizenship should count instead. The winning approach should be: “We are all Ukrainians.”

Montedoro states that Ukraine is a country where 80% of the population is Christian: 17 million Orthodox people belong to the Moscow Patriarchate, 15 million belong to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and they depend on the Kyiv Patriarchate. About 14% of the population are Latin Catholics and Roman Catholics, thus about 4-5 million people.

“Unfortunately, the tensions caused by the Parliamentary Front were also determined by the fact that some religious representatives of the Orthodox Church dependent on the Moscow Patriarchate were going to cooperate with the military forces of the Russian Federation – he reported – according to some testimonies and even the reclusive synod priests, concealed, hid, They hid in the parish the military supplies of the Russians, and these conditions undermined Christian unity.”

What is the goal of the Catholics in Ukraine in this regard? “To ensure that the excellent experience that has arisen in the Ukrainian General Council in recent years does not disappear. This testimony also came from the Apostolic Ambassador – answers the Director of the American Civil Service Association, declaring, among other things, the commitment made. Refinance, restore and buy back what The Russians stole it from the Forzel School, near Kyiv – the picture I drew during this journey of life in our societies, in which everyone cooperates, shows how unitary reality can be: first of all, all Ukrainians, not to banish debt to a subordinate, But to make sure that it is faith that strengthens the character of citizenship. And unity among Christians today is also a treasure for the purposes of the inevitable internal negotiations within Ukraine itself, and not only with the Russian Federation. I am sure that it can be a basic building block for better results of future negotiations” .

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(by Roberta Lanzara)