Report documents human rights violations in Crimea under Russian rule
September 22, 2015
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe has issued a report on human rights violations in Crimea, a portion of Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia in March 2014.
The 100-page report refers twice to the Catholic Church:
At the time of annexation, over 1,400 religious communities were formally registered as legal entities under Ukrainian law, and 674 additional communities (mostly belonging to the Muftiate) operated informally without registration. Prior to the first deadline of 1 January 2015, 150 applications had reportedly been rejected for technical reasons, including all 20 applications by the Jehova’s [sic] Witness community, and the applications of the Catholic Church due to providing some documents in the Ukrainian language …
Soon after the 2014 Russian Federation annexation of Crimea, several places of worship inside what were previously Ukrainian military bases were seized. These were churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kyiv Patriarchate, such as St. Clement’s Church in the Nakhimov Naval Academy in Sevastopol, and the Greek Catholic Church.405 The Kyiv Patriarchate reportedly claimed that five of its ten priests in the region had been forced to leave Crimea. Greek Catholic priests also fled Crimea following these church seizures, fearing for their safety.
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Posted by: Gregory108 -
Sep. 22, 2015 8:31 PM ET USA
I guess St. Vladimir (Putin), according to some folks the very embodiment of Christian sainthood and goodness, who is only trying to rescue Ukraine and Russia from sexual perversion and sin, did not know about these violations. Likely. If you believe that, I'd like to sell you St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow's Red Square. It's available from me for a discount, but only if you act now.
