Leaders of Ukraine’s main denominations repeat their call for their right to permanent use of land to be reinstated

On 13 March leaders of the main member Churches of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and religious organizations, as well as of the Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches of Ukraine, sent an appeal to the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Moroz and leaders of parliamentary factions asking that they support the draft law “On introducing amendments to some laws of Ukraine on the right of religious organizations to permanently use land” (registration No. 2426, authors – State Deputies R. Lukyanchuk, O. Turchynov and Y. Sukhy).

The appeal points out that  “these legislative amendments are extremely important and relevant for Ukrainian society since it is churches and religious organizations which are carrying out wide-scale and regular work in the area of ensuring the spiritual and moral development of society, which the state cannot cope with except through cooperation with religious institutions”. The leaders of the Churches and religious organizations point to the important of the given draft law “since where religious organizations are deprived of the right to purchase land or lease it indefinitely, they are forced to spend large amounts of renting sites with places of worship, auxiliary buildings and church social work institution”.

They stress the need at the present time to approve such legislative amendments is manifest and exceedingly important due to the special non-profit making status of churches and religious organizations and the need for the state to create conditions for the spiritual, moral and social pastoral services of religious organizations.

The appeal is signed by the leaders of the main member Churches of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and religious organizations (the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, the All-Ukrainian Union of Associations of Evangelical Baptist Christians, the Church of Evangelical Christians of Ukraine, the

Ukrainian Christian Evangelical Church, the Association of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Union Conference, the Seventh Day Adventist Church and Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches of Ukraine.