Ukrainian Greek Catholic Bishops Accuse State Leadership of Irresponsible Policies
The bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) stated that the policy of the present leadership of the state is imprudent and irresponsible. This statement was included in a letter to the leadership of Ukraine passed at the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, which was held on September 5-11, in Brazil. The letter was published today in Kyiv.
The letter deals with “the state of affairs regarding the socioeconomic policy, partiality in justice, oppression of the Ukrainian language, particularly, narrowing of the range of areas of its use, large-scale closing of Ukrainian-language schools.”
The bishops of the UGCC stress that in anticipation of the parliamentary election in Ukraine, the question of the Ukrainian language is used as a baraining chip. The bishops are concerned over the closing of Ukrainian schools in some regions of Ukraine.
“We believe that it is an irresponsible policy, which does not serve the Ukrainian statehood,” reads the letter.
According to the bishops, “The church, which includes several millions of Ukrainians in all the continents of the world, is concerned over the fact that the authorities of the country do not care at all about the migrants abroad, who were compelled to work there, and donot assist in bringing them back.”
The address stresses that the state today should set up an effective executive body to conduct the state policy with respect to the Ukrainian migrants and defend their rights. According to the bishops, new work places should be created to allow the people to come back.
Another subject of the letter was the condition of justice in Ukraine. The representatives of the UGCC call it “distorted” and state that under such conditions, one can hardly expect the judicial system to be unbiased and objective. According to the letter of the UGCC bishops to the president, radical and fundamental changes are needed in the field of justice.
The head of UGCC cited the words of Pope Benedict who once said that a government without law is turned into a gang of robbers. Therefore, as the hierarch stressed at the press conference, the law should be observed in all things and should work in the state.
The head of UGCC also stressed that it is very important for the church that Ukraine be a European state.
According to Patriarch Sviatoslav, during the synod, the bishops also wrote a letter to the Brazilian president and on October 24-25, Viktor Yanukovych is to visit Brazil.
