UGCC also condemns monopoly over burials in Kyiv
On July 5, 2011, the Presidium of the Kyiv City Council considered the question of allocating spaces of three square meters on premises where services for burials are offered, including for municipal cemeteries and crematoria, to the St. Illinska parish of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate for three years and for a nominal rent.
In response, the Kyiv Archeparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) appealed to the Kyiv city government with an official letter expressing the church’s concern over the approach and with a call to guarantee equal rights for believers of all denominations, including the UGCC. The leaders of the Kyiv eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate also issued a similar appeal.
Auxiliary Bishop of the Kyiv Archeparchy of the UGCC Josyf Milian described the situation as such: “The president of Ukraine at his meeting with the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations on April 21 of this year said that state authorities in Ukraine, local government, and he personally will develop equal relations with all officially registered churches and religious organizations. This means that all will have the chance to develop, build parish communities, and improve services for pastoral care. Therefore, giving one parish or one denomination a monopoly over burials in the cemeteries of Kyiv would be a gross violation of the equal rights of all religions before the law and the religious rights of each person, especially concerning the religious services of their pastor.”
“The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church feels obligated to meet the spiritual needs of all its believers, especially those who seek services for relatives who have passed away, that is, who ask their priests to administer the Order of Christian Funeral,” said Bishop Milian, reports the press service of the Kyiv Archeparchy of the UGCC.
According to RISU, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate is also angered by the allocation. At a special press conference on July 13, which took place at the UNIAN office, Bishop Yevstratii Zoria called on the Kyiv State City Administration to not consider this issue on July 14 but to thoroughly and comprehensively study it and include in its discussion representatives of all denominations active in Kyiv and representatives of organizations that offer funeral services.
