AUCCRO condemns terrorist attack in New Zealand

Ukrainian religious leaders condemn any acts of violence on the grounds of religious hatred or other motives in whatever place and under whatever slogans they are committed.

Such an announcement was made public on March 18 by the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations in connection with a recent terrorist attack on Muslims in New Zealand, according to the Institute of Religious Freedom.

We bring to your notice the full text of this document:

STATEMENT of All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations on attacks on the grounds of religious hatred

It is with the feelings of sadness and indignation that we learned the news that 50 Muslims were killed and 50 more were wounded in New Zealand as a result of the terrorist attack. We extend our condolences to the families of the victims, and our moral support to all victims.

There is no justification for terrorist crimes against humanity. Those who commit them shall be subject to severe social condemnation and must be brought to public justice with all the rigor of the law. We are convinced that their crimes will be punished through the Justice of the Almighty.

The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations condemns any acts of violence on the grounds of religious hatred or on other motives in whichever place and under whatever slogans they are committed. The Ukrainian state, being in fact a predominantly Christian community, has never given grounds to be qualified as a country where the rights of different religious denominations are endangered.

Ukraine is a multi-denominational and multi-ethnic country where the rights and freedoms of both believers and non-believers are guaranteed, freedom of religion and conditions for the peaceful coexistence of representatives of different religions and cultures are guaranteed. An evidence to this is the existence and effective operation of our organization, which embraces representatives of Christian, Muslim and Jewish religions, where we are all different and equal at the same time.

We assure the Ukrainian society and the international community that we will further make every effort to confront the challenges of terrorism and extremism. In this context, we extend our gratitude to the law enforcement agencies that foster stability of interfaith peace and protect the rights of believers to freedom of religion. We are confident that through the joint efforts of the state, the Ukrainian religious community and all people of goodwill, we will counter the current challenges and preserve the interfaith peace and life of our people from terrorist attacks.