Vandalism and grave disrespect to believers in Kharkiv

A memorial plaque to Patriarch Joseph Slipy, erected in 2005 has been removed from the wall of what was once the Kharkiv prison where in the 1960s the Patriarch, a prisoner of conscience for 18 years, was imprisoned, and where he was sent in 1961 to the Mordovian camps and exile.

The authorities did not pay heed to the appeal from Cardinal Lubomir Husar, Head of the Greek-Catholic Church, to the city authorities nor from believers and other concerned members of the public.

This is a truly staggering and deeply disturbing act of gratuitous vandalism and insensitivity, years after official condemnation of Stalinism and all its crimes, including the persecution of the Greek-Catholic Church.  .