Ukraine marks 70th anniversary of elimination of Armenian Catholic Church
The Parliament resolved to honor the 70th anniversary of the liquidation of the Armenian Catholic Church in Western Ukraine. The events will be held October 25, 2016. The draft Resolution 5255 was voted for by 240 deputies of Ukraine during the plenary session on October 20, the Institute of Religious Freedom reports. “In 1945, a mass liquidation of Eastern Catholic Churches was launched in western Ukraine. Armenian Catholic Church was one of the first among them,” the text of the Parliament resolution goes. Commemoration of this tragic event will take place “in order to preserve the historical memory, reaffirm the principles of freedom of religion and minority rights proclaimed by the Constitution of Ukraine, condemning any persecution on religious and ethnic grounds.” To that end, Parliament recommended the Ministry of Education of Ukraine to ensure that in secondary and higher education schools the theme of elimination of the Armenian Catholic Church in Western Ukraine was considered. Thus the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine recommended to ensure the coordination of research on this topic.
Parliamentarians supported this decision immediately. Before the vote, productive discussions were held regarding the current attitude of the Armenian leadership towards Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and unrecognition of the occupation of the Crimea
