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Group members said Russian occupiers are snuffing out religious and other freedoms in areas of Ukraine under Russian control. “We are eyewitnesses of Russian atrocities going on in our country,” said Metropolitan Yevstratiy Zoria, a representative of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has declared its independence from Moscow and proclaimed its loyalty to Ukraine, but a government study commission contended that the UOC remains a structural unit of the Russian Orthodox Church. The other separate, but similarly-named church, Orthodox Church of Ukraine, was officially recognized as independent by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in 2019, but the Russian church has disputed the legitimacy of that recognition. Zoria decried statements by Moscow Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, who has strongly supported the war as part of a metaphysical battle against Western liberalism and has said the Russian war dead have their sins forgiven.

Persons: Ivan Rusyn, ”, Freedom, “, Bartholomew of Constantinople, you’re, Zoria, Kirill, ” Zoria, Yaakov Dov Bleich, ” Bleich, Vladimir Putin, Ukraine Akhmed Tamim Organizations: WASHINGTON, Ukrainian Evangelical Church, Ukrainian, of, U.S . Institute of Peace, Orthodox, of Ukraine, The U.S . Commission, ” UNESCO, U.S . State Department, Church, Orthodox Church of, Ecumenical, Metropolitan Zoria, Russian Orthodox Church, Administration, Lilly Endowment Inc, AP Locations: Ukrainian, United States, Ukraine, Russian, Rusyn, Christianity, The, ”, Houston, Moscow, Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church of Ukraine, of Ukraine, “, Kyiv, America, Yugoslavia

CNN —Ukraine has passed legislation moving its official Christmas holiday to December 25, further distancing itself from the traditions of the Putin-aligned Russian Orthodox Church, which celebrates the holiday on January 7. A branch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine allowed its churches to celebrate Christmas on December 25 last year. Ukraine’s main Greek Catholic church said in February it was moving to a new calendar to celebrate Christmas on December 25 as well. In December, the Ukrainian government launched a poll asking citizens whether the date for Christmas should be moved to December 25. They added that they celebrated Christmas on December 25 last year and felt they would “quickly adapt.”“Ukraine should be a civilized European country,” Alla said.

Persons: Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine “, “, Kirill, Alla, Oksana, ” Alla, ” Vitalina, Pavlo, ” Pavlo, Tetyana Organizations: CNN, Church, ”, Orthodox, of, Catholic, Ukrainian Locations: Ukraine, ” Ukraine, Russia, Crimea, Donbas, Moscow, Christianity, of Ukraine, Ukraine’s, Ukrainian, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Kyiv, Europe

☆ Top Ukraine cleric accused of glorifying Russian invasion appears in court
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The hearing was adjourned to Monday after the cleric, Metropolitan Pavlo of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), complained of ill health. The court appearance came after Pavlo was questioned by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), which presented the cleric with a series of accusations on the same issue shortly before. The UOC has been accused of maintaining links to the pro-invasion Russian Orthodox Church, which used to be its parent church but with which the UOC says it all broke ties in May 2022. The UOC is Ukraine's second-largest church, though most Ukrainian Orthodox believers belong to a separate branch of the faith, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, formed four years ago by uniting branches independent of Moscow's authority. In a video posted to the UOC website earlier in the day, Pavlo said he condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

☆ Ecumenical patriarch: Russian Church shares blame for 'crimes' in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Andrius Sytas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's comments are a rebuke for Russian Patriarch Kirill, whose full-throated blessing for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine has splintered the worldwide Orthodox Church. Bartholomew, who in 2019 infuriated Moscow by recognising the newly established Orthodox Church of Ukraine, said Russian authorities were using the Church as an "instrument for their strategic objectives". The Russian Orthodox Church had no immediate comment. 'MOTHER CHURCH'The Ecumenical Patriarch is based in Istanbul and is viewed as "first among equals" in the Orthodox Church, which has some 260 million followers worldwide, around 100 million of them in Russia. Ukraine says Russia is waging an unprovoked war of aggression aimed at seizing land and crushing its independence.

☆ Russian Orthodox head appeals against eviction of church from Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 11 (Reuters) - Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, on Saturday asked Pope Francis and other religious leaders to persuade Ukraine to stop a crackdown against a historically Russian-aligned wing of the church. Kyiv on Friday ordered the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to leave a monastery complex where it is based, the latest move against a denomination the government says is pro-Russian and collaborating with Moscow. Kirill said it was regrettable that Ukrainian worshippers' rights and freedoms were being blatantly violated. Among the many leaders to whom the appeal is addressed are Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the head of Egypt's Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros as well as U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk, the church said. Most Ukrainian Orthodox believers belong to a separate branch of the faith, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, formed four years ago by uniting branches independent of Moscow's authority.

☆ Ukraine orders Russian-aligned Orthodox church to leave Kyiv monastery
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 10 (Reuters) - Ukrainian officials on Friday ordered a historically Russian-aligned wing of the Orthodox Church to leave a monastery complex in Kyiv where it is based, the latest move against a denomination regarded with deep suspicion by the government. Kyiv is cracking down on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) - which accepted the authority of the patriarch of Moscow until after Russia launched its full-scale invasion last year - on grounds that it is pro-Russian and collaborating with Moscow. The Ukrainian culture ministry said the UOC had been ordered to leave the 980-year-old Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery complex, where it has its headquarters. Authorities said they had found pro-Russian literature on church premises, and Russian citizens being harboured there, allegations the UOC denied. Most Ukrainian Orthodox believers belong to a separate branch of the faith, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, formed four years ago by uniting branches independent of Moscow's authority.

☆ Fact Check-Ukrainian church fire from 2021 likely started by electrical fault, according to priest
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A 2021 video of a burning church in Ukraine has circulated online with a caption that baselessly claims it was set alight by Ukrainian nationalists. The posts claim that “Ukrainian nationalists” started the fire after the church rector refused to switch from the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now in its 11th month, has led many Ukrainians to rally round the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which they see as more pro-Ukrainian than its rival, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The Ukrainian Orthodox Church Dnipropetrovsk Eparchy published a statement at the time with videos and photos of the church (here ). The video shows a fire at a church in the Dnipropetrovsk region in 2021.

☆ Moscow ends self-proclaimed cease-fire and vows to press ahead in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

One person was killed in another attack overnight on Soledar in the eastern Donetsk region, local officials said. Spencer Platt / Getty ImagesMost Ukrainian Orthodox Christians have traditionally celebrated Christmas on Jan. 7, as have Orthodox Christians in Russia. But this year, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the country’s largest, allowed also for a Dec. 25 celebration. Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of Donetsk, said that there were nine missile strikes on the region overnight, including seven on the battered city of Kramatorsk. Shellfire echoed on Saturday around the near-deserted streets of Bakhmut, an eastern city that is currently the focus of the most intense fighting.

☆ Christmas joy and anger for rival Orthodox churches in historic Kyiv monastery
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

It has become a focus of a bitter conflict between Ukraine's Orthodox communities, triggered by Russia's invasion. Members of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Ukraine's largest, piled into the cathedral's ornate interior on Saturday, to hear the first ever Ukrainian-language service in the cathedral. Ukraine's Orthodox Church, in its various iterations, has been subordinate to Moscow since the 17th century. The war, now in its eleventh month, has led many Ukrainians to rally round the OCU, which they see as more pro-Ukrainian than its rival, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). That decision infuriated Russia's Orthodox Church, as Istanbul had previously recognised the UOC, then under Moscow's rule, as the legitimate Ukrainian church.

Mo Abbas / NBC NewsKuvtun is among the Ukrainian Christians who turned Christmas into a fresh front in the war with Russia. We choose this civilization,” said Archbishop Yevstratiy Zorya, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate. Hours later, Putin ordered his military to observe a 36-hour cease-fire in Ukraine for Russian Orthodox Christmas and called on Kyiv to do the same. And even as it has sought to distance itself from Russia, the UOC has also stuck with Christmas on Jan. 7. Zorya, the OCU spokesman, said the Russian Orthodox Church, to which the UOC still bears at least a nominal connection, remains hopelessly imperial in its outlook.

☆ As shelling over Ukrainian cities continue, Putin claims he's ready for talks that could end the war. Others says he's bluffing or growing weary.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A leading think tank says Russian forces are growing weary in their offensive attacks. The Russian president has previously made comments about wanting to end the war. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, suggested that Russian war efforts are weakening. The ISW suggested that the developments could lead Russian forces to initiate a tactical or operational pause. In an effort to break from Russian traditions, some Orthodox Ukrainians celebrated Christmas on December 25, as opposed to January 7 in line with the Russian Orthodox Church.

☆ Vote for me! Cyprus clerics scramble to get public vote
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus is one of the few Orthodox Churches worldwide to recognise the independence of the fellow-Orthodox Church of Ukraine, in a move which triggered a rift within the Cypriot church in 2020. Chrysostomos had recognised the independence of the Ukrainian church away from Moscow's influence, butting heads with clerics considered pro-Russian. Today it has business interests as diverse as real estate to Cyprus's award-winning KEO beer. "In Cyprus the flock has the privilege of choosing who will be its shepherd," said theologian Theodoros Kyriakou. Reporting by Michele Kambas, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine's security service raids Kyiv monastery, suspects Russian sabotage
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Ukrainian law enforcement officers check documents of a visitor of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine November 22, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn OgirenkoKYIV, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Ukraine's SBU security service and police raided a 1,000-year-old Orthodox Christian monastery in Kyiv early on Tuesday as part of operations to counter suspected "subversive activities by Russian special services", the SBU said. The sprawling Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex that was raided is a Ukrainian cultural treasure and the headquarters of the Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church known as the Moscow Patriarchate. "These measures are being taken ... as part of the systemic work of the SBU to counter the destructive activities of Russian special services in Ukraine," the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement. A 2020 survey by the Kyiv-based Razumkov Centre found that 34% of Ukrainians identified as members of the main Orthodox Church of Ukraine, while 14% were members of Ukraine's Moscow Patriarchate Church.

☆ The Orthodox Church of Ukraine said Christmas can be moved to December 25, in another snub to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine said Christmas can now be celebrated on December 25. It previously marked Christmas on January 7, alongside the Russian Orthodox Church. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine announced that its assembly had voted in favor of letting parishes choose whether to mark Christmas on December 25. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine is distinct from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, with the latter maintaining ties to Moscow until recently, The Guardian noted. Russia's Orthodox Church has supported Russia's war in Ukraine, with its leader saying in September that dying against Ukraine is an act of "sacrifice" that absolves soldiers of their sins.

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