ICC Note: The hostile takeover of the Ukrainian Crimea by Russia is having religious repercussions. Catholic leaders, long repressed under the Soviet Union, have been ordered by pro-Russian forces to abandon their congregations in Crimea and flee to mainland Ukraine. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic church has refused, saying their clergy will remain with the sheep. At least three priests have been detained and released by Russian forces. ICC will continue to follow the situation as it develops.
3/24/2014 Russia (WorldMag) – Amid the turmoil between Ukraine and Russia, Crimean Catholics fear Russian oppression and say their church already is suffering great persecution.
“At this moment, all Ukrainian Greek Catholic life in Crimea is paralyzed,” Father Volodymyr Zhdan told Catholic News Agency (CNA) the day Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty annexing Crimea.
Ahead of the March 16 referendum, in which an overwhelming majority of Crimeans voted to request the Russian annexation, Father Mykhailo Milchakovskyi, a Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest, told Catholic News Service uncertainty about the church’s future had caused many congregants to sell their homes and migrate to other parts of Ukraine. “Our Church has no legal status in the Russian Federation, so it’s uncertain which laws will be applied if Crimea is annexed,” he said. “We fear our churches will be confiscated and our clergy arrested.”
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International Christian Concern’s Ryan Morgan said church leaders have a reason to be worried: “If Russia refuses to grant Catholic or certain Ukrainian Orthodox Churches registration in the newly Russian Crimea, it is a sure sign that far worse persecution is just around the corner.”
Catholic news outlets reported pro-Russian forces have been anonymously threatening Ukrainian Catholics in recent weeks. Vatican Radio reported that the threats pressured Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests to leave Crimea. In one instance, a note left at the home of an arrested priest said, “A lesson to all Vatican agents.”
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