Senator Grassley: Representatives of Russian Orthodox Church falsely claimed persecution by Ukrainian Government
“Do not trust those who assert that the Russian Orthodox Church has fallen victim to religious persecution amid the conflict in Ukraine that kicked off with Russia's invasion in February 2022. In reality, the Russian Orthodox Church is at the forefront of persecuting fellow Orthodox Christians, as well as Catholics, Evangelicals, and others,” stated Senator Chuck Grassley.
He stressed that Ukraine rightly demands that followers of the Moscow Patriarchate “stop taking directions from the Patriarch in Moscow, who was a KGB agent and reports directly to Vladimir Putin.”
The senator urged everyone to listen closely to the words of Patriarch Bartholomew, who remarked that the Russian Patriarch's blessing of the war is “damaging to the prestige of the whole of Orthodoxy because Orthodoxy doesn’t support war, violence, terrorism.”
The text of Senator Grassley's speech:
I understand that representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church are on Capitol Hill this week, falsely claiming persecution by the Ukrainian Government. This is because of a law requiring churches in Ukraine to stop taking directions from the Patriarch in Moscow, who was a KGB agent and reports directly to Vladimir Putin.
Two years ago, I met with Ukrainian faith leaders in my office, about 30 of them, from many backgrounds, including Orthodox, Catholic, Evangelical, Jewish, and Muslim.
They told me everyone in Ukraine can freely practice their religion.
But in occupied Ukraine, Russians have turned churches into a secular Russian “Ministry of Culture.” They’ve also tortured pastors, and the faithful are forced to worship in secret. That’s what I heard from religious leaders of Ukraine two years ago.
In September, I highlighted a report by the Free Russia Foundation, titled “The Russian Orthodox Church and the War.” That report showed how this body supports the invasion of Ukraine through propaganda, rituals for invaders, diplomatic manipulation, and espionage.
The Atlantic Council hosted an event about the Free Russia Report featuring a discussion with Orthodox priests titled “How the Russian Orthodox Church supports the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine.” You can view it online.
It’s no wonder that only between 4% to 8% of the Orthodox Ukrainians still identify with the Moscow church.
The overwhelming majority of Orthodox Ukrainians identify with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which is recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the first among equals in the Orthodox tradition.
The Ecumenical Patriarch is also head of the largest Orthodox church in the United States, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
So, we should listen to what he said in response to the Russian Patriarch blessing the war and claiming that Russian soldiers who die invading Ukraine will have their sins washed away.
His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said this: “It is damaging to the prestige of the whole of Orthodoxy because Orthodoxy doesn’t support war, violence, terrorism.”
Do not believe anyone who claims that the Russian Orthodox Church is somehow a victim of religious persecution in this war in Ukraine that was started when Russia invaded [in] February ‘22.
The Russian Orthodox Church is a leading perpetrator of the persecution of fellow Orthodox believers, as well as Catholics, Evangelicals, and others.
