AUCCRO urges parliamentary candidates to share their position on public morality and freedom of religion
The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations has appealed to the parties and parliamentary candidates urging them to clarify their position on religious freedom, family values and public morality.
The heads of denominations adopted such a decision at a meeting of the AUCCRO held on June 14 in Kyiv under the chairmanship of Bishop Vitaly Krivitsky, according to the Institute of Religious Freedom.
In addition to the challenges that are meaningful for the progress of Ukrainian society, such as the establishment of fair trial and the rule of law, fight against corruption and ensuring the equality of all before the law, preservation of the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches underscores the spiritual and moral principles of the development of our state and the problems of value commitment of parliamentary candidates.
Among other things, AUCCRO inquires the politicians about their attitude towards freedom of religion and religious pluralism, readiness to develop the dialogue and interact with the religious community on a partner basis, including as part of the legislative process.
Religious leaders also expect to hear from parliamentary candidates and political parties, whether they see the issues of protection of families and children, as well as family, spiritual and moral values inherent in Ukrainian society as top priorities of state policy.
In addition, the Council of Churches calls on political parties and parliamentary candidates to abandon the idea of promoting at the state level the same-sex relations, same-sex partnerships and gender ideology, which distort the understanding of the concepts of “gender”, “marriage”, “family”. They also call to deny ratification of the Istanbul Convention, and not to promote public awareness of same-sex relations and transgender movement.
During the meeting, members of the AUCCRO discussed issues related to the establishment of the Public Office for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience. In particular, representatives of the Ministry of Culture invited religious leaders to take part in finalizing the draft regulation on this Public Office.
The participants of the meeting also summed up the results of the annual all-Ukrainian march for the rights of children and families, which this year brought together about 15,000 participants in the center of Kyiv.
