The Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches of Ukraine (CEPCU) expressed the belief that a “visa-free regime with the EU or other European aspirations of Ukraine should not be implemented at any cost, ignoring moral principles, family traditions, and the will of the Ukrainian people."
This refers to a bill, which the Ukrainian government wants to pass to fight against discrimination, including on grounds of sexual orientation. It should be noted that this is the first time such legislation has been introduced in Ukraine.
At a meeting chaired by the head of the Seventh-day Adventist Church Viktor Alekseenko held on September 3, the Secretariat of the CEPCU sent an appeal to the Chairman of Parliament, leaders of parliamentary factions, and interfactional groups with a request to prevent the bill from passing.
“Recently the Ukrainian people celebrated the 1,025th anniversary of the baptism of Rus-Ukraine, thus again confirming that they belong to the rich spiritual heritage of Christianity and their adherence to its morals, which, unfortunately, have been rejected by modern Western liberal culture. Striving to join Europe, we hope to improve living standards and high social standards. However, most Ukrainians believe that the Ukrainian state can also enrich the European community by showing the benefits of a strong family, abstinence, morality, and common sense,” reads the statement.
Representatives of the churches emphasized the “personal responsibility of each MP to God and future generations to preserve morals and the healthy spiritual ground on which our children’s worldviews and the future of Ukraine are formed."
Recall that on May 14, the Parliament indefinitely postponed the consideration of the bill due to protests by supporters of traditional family values. Most legislators oppose this initiative. In particular, the Party of Regions has decided to let its fellow party members themselves decide on this bill. However, Vitali Klitschko recently stated that his party UDAR supports this bill, citing the necessity of tolerance to the choice of each individual.
Since 2005, the Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches of Ukraine has been coordinating the interchurch dialogue of 11 evangelical religious groups (Baptists, Pentecostals, Charismatics, Lutherans) and represents about 10,000 evangelical Christian church communities in Ukraine.