PERSECUTION OF UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH COULD SPREAD TO BALKANS

BELGRADE, SEPTEMBER 21 /SRNA/ - The persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church /UOC/ and its believers is disturbing due to the silence of international institutions for the protection of human rights and because of the possibility that, if that Church is abolished, the same scenario will spread to the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Balkans, and that by separating from it, schismatic churches in Croatia, Montenegro, BiH and in the territory of Kosovo will be formed, warned the participants of

Slobodan Antonić, professor of sociology at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, pointed out that this danger must not be ruled out since it is evident that international organizations that insist on respect for human rights watch the persecution of the UOC with astonishing silence, even though the systematic terror of the state against the canonically recognized church and its believers is at play in Ukraine. "The Ukrainian authorities are persecuting the UOC, and especially the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, grossly violating the universally recognized rights of believers and religious organizations. The goal is the liquidation of the UOC," said Antonić. He pointed out that none of those who constantly talk about human rights pay attention to documents that guarantee the right to freedom of religion, such as the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the positions of the UN Human Rights Committee and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms. Antonić explained that it is clear from all these documents that everyone has the right to freedom of religion, that this must not be deviated from even during a state of emergency and that any coercion of believers to change their beliefs or confession is expressly prohibited. Miloš Ković, professor of history at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, pointed out that the terror against the UOC is the finale of a centuries-old process and game of identity engineering, which began in the time of Austria-Hungary and continued in the "laboratories of Bolshevik leaders" during the Soviet Union until today, when NATO countries adopted the discourse and tradition of Leninist communism to enforce separation and division within a nation, in this case the Russian nation. "Looking at Ukraine and the persecution of the UOC, we begin to better understand what is happening to us. We now understand even better what is happening to the Serbs in Croatia, BiH and Kosovo and Metohija. What is happening in Ukraine is part of global processes, that is, anti-Christian ethos of the Western world," Ković said. He has pointed out that Christians are persecuted not only in Ukraine, Montenegro or Croatia, but also in the countries that started this evil, which shows that an anti-Christian world is being created. "What we see in Ukraine is the most radical expression of that world. That is why the role of Russia is very important, which today is not only fighting for its bare survival, but it is the stronghold and the point of support for all those who want to live freely, do not agree for their consciousness to be changed and don't want to suffer terror," Ković said. Professor at the Orthodox Theological Faculty in Foča, Darko Đogo, assessed that the fight for the holy places in Ukraine is a fight for the souls and identity of the people who live there. "We live in an age of state terror against the UOC, which continues and there is no end in sight, because there are no institutions of international protection that would be interested in the basic rights of UOC believers. This dynamic will continue to be implemented," Đogo said. He has said that the schismatics in Ukraine use the tomos on autocephaly that they received from the Patriarchate of Constantinople for aggressive behavior towards the faithful of the canonically recognized church. "Tomos serves for new violence and for the legitimization of what was stolen," pointed out Đogo. Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, Zoran Kindjić, pointed out that the initiators of the "Appeal for the Protection of the UOC" were guided by the need for intellectuals to always point out the truth, regardless of the possible consequences, since the world today is dominated by Western institutions and Western media, which do not look favorably on such activities. "The West, which formulated the ideology of human and religious rights, is now turning a blind eye to what is happening with the UOC. Until a decade ago, everyone in the West would have jumped if someone committed an incident against a small Christian community, and today, when the majority population of Ukraine belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is persecuted, nothing is happening. It just shows double standards," said Kindjić. He has pointed out that the "Appeal for the Protection of the UOC" has already begun to bear fruit, as the Metropolitan Luka of Zaporizhia thanked the initiators and signatories from the bottom of his heart for the engagement and support they provide to the UOC and its believers in times when they are going through difficult trials.