In Ireland, Orthodox Christians appeal to Trump and Vance to defend the UOC

Dozens of people signed a petition addressed to Donald Trump and James David Vance, requesting protection for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) from repression by the Kyiv authorities. Orthodox Christians from Ireland and Latvia held a two-hour picket outside the U.S. Embassy in Dublin. The petition was delivered to the embassy by Yuri Zaitsev, a well-known Latvian politician currently residing in Ireland.

The UOJ publishes the full English version of the petition:

To the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump
To the Vice President-elect of the United States, James David Vance

We urge you to defend religious freedom in Ukraine by clearly linking any funding for Ukraine to the cessation of repressions against the faithful of the largest religious denomination in Ukraine – the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). U.S. financial support to Ukraine is perceived by Ukrainian authorities as tacit approval of the repressive measures carried out against believers in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian authorities encourage the actions of militants, who can be compared with China's Red Guards, against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. UAF militants manifested the most obvious violence during the seizure of the cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Cherkasy.

In Ukraine, pro-government militants are seizing hundreds of churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, forcing believers to pray in clandestine houses of worship.

Ukrainian authorities have arrested dozens of clergy. Moreover, the government has passed a law banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This only happened after the October Revolution, when the Bolsheviks exercised political repressions against believers in Ukraine.

American lawyer Robert Amsterdam has already collected numerous evidence about the repressions of the Ukrainian authorities against UOC priests.

American dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, which helped the United States fight communism in the 20th century, called for an end to the repressions against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

Orthodox believers were encouraged by Mr. Vance’s remarks about the persecution of believers in Ukraine, specifically his statement that "it would be good if the recipient of aid were a little more careful about human rights, including religious freedoms."

In this regard, we appeal to Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance to defend religious freedom in Ukraine.

As the UOJ previously reported, Senator Vance has received letters from UOJ's imprisoned journalists.