Address of denominations: Amendments to religious freedom law should go through public discussion

Heads of the churches and religious organizations of Ukraine sent an address to the Ministry of Culture and Justice with a request to conduct a public discussion.

Heads of the churches and religious organizations of Ukraine have sent an address to the Ministry of Culture and Justice with a request to conduct a proper public discussion of the amended Draft Law of Ukraine on the Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations, reports the Institute of Religious Freedom.

Furthermore, the denominations have initiated a dialogue with the Ministry of Culture regarding a bill on the restitution of religious buildings to religious organizations. They expect the Ministry of Justice to conduct consultations with the public regarding the planned legislative changes through which the authorities plan to introduce the new procedure for registering religious organizations.

The heads of the churches and religious organizations are motivated to hold a public discussion by the fact that the prepared amendments to the law “directly concern the implementation and protection of the constitutional rights of the citizens of Ukraine to the freedom of worldview and confession.”

The addresses also say that the bills “considerably influence the conditions under which religious activity is conducted, which directly concerns the spiritual, social and other interests of the churches and religious organizations of Ukraine.”

“It is our request that consultations with the churches and religious organizations as institutes of the civic society should be conducted in the format of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations and in the form of a public discussion,” reads the addresses of the confessions.

The following churches and organizations brought forward the initiative of the public discussion:

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate;

Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate;

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church;

All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists;

All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Christians of Evangelical Faith, Pentecostals;

Ukrainian Christian Evangelical Church;

Association of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine.

Let us remind that in the event that a proposal to conduct consultations with the public is received from at least three institutes of the civic society, they must be conducted. This requirement of the authorities is stipulated in Paragraph 7 of the Procedure for Organizing Consultations with the Public in Forming and Realizing State Policy (approved by the Government’s Resolution 996 on November 3, 2010).