Metropolitan Borys participated in the discussion “Faith Under Fire in Russia’s War on Ukraine” hosted by the US Peace Institute
In 300 years - starting with Catherine (the Great), through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and now in the twenty-first century - every time there was a Russian occupation, the Ukrainian Catholic Church was rendered illegal, stated Metropolitan Borys Gudziak during the panel discussion at the United States Institute of Peace titled “Faith Under Fire in Russia’s War on Ukraine”. This discussion was part of a broader visit of the delegation from the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO), representing 95% of all religious communities in Ukraine to Washington, D.C., and Houston, Texas, being held from October 28th to November 5th. On request of His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, metropolitan Borys joined the delegation during their stay in DC.
The Metropolitan stressed that in the occupied area, there’s not a single Catholic priest - Roman or Eastern - that is functioning. “The Ukrainian religious organizations understand that a Russian occupation will bring limitation or elimination of religious freedom”.
Metropolitan Borys compared the statistics of the Ukrainian Catholics in the US and in Russia. “The Ukrainian Catholic Church has probably half a million faithful in Russia, and we have not a single registered parish. It is impossible for Ukrainian Catholics in Russia to have a parish. In the United States, we have 200 parishes for 50,000 faithful that go to church regularly”, said the Archbishop. He emphasized that every religious denomination in Russia is either persecuted or controlled.
During the event moderated by the former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Yevstratiy Zoria stressed that, with their visit, Ukrainian religious leaders wanted to show their diversity, freedom, understanding, and cooperation. “In Ukraine, we have not just peaceful coexistence but a deep and fruitful cooperation,” he said.
“Just look at us,” said Yaakov Dov Bleich, chief rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine, who was sitting next to
Supreme Mufti of Ukraine Akhmed Tamim. “We are a real Council of Churches and religious organizations, we are not chosen by the government, we represent the people. We are here in the US not to lobby the government but to speak to the people”.
Deputy Senior Bishop of the Ukrainian Evangelical Church Ivan Rusyn who shared about the persecution of the Evangelical Churches on occupied territories quoted Martin Luther King who said that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
“The war in Ukraine is not about the land. It is about values, identity, and culture. About our very existence. It is a war of the Russian Army against the Ukrainian people”. He mentioned that, in an independent Ukraine, protestants who were persecuted during Soviet times enjoy religious freedom.
