Patriarch Kirill tells Anglican leader about Ukraine's religious freedom violations
MOSCOW. Nov 21 (Interfax) - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has told the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, about violations of the rights of believers in Ukraine.
"[Taking] full responsibility [for my words], I attest to gross violations of religious freedoms in Ukraine," the patriarch told the archbishop at a meeting in Moscow on Tuesday.
Takeovers of canonical Ukrainian Orthodox churches very often involve physical violence against ordinary believers, Kirill said.
He also said that while religious leaders have jointly managed to prevent the passage of laws discriminating against the Moscow Patriarchate's Ukrainian Orthodox Church, there is no guarantee that those bills will not return to the agenda.
Patriarch Kirill gave Welby a document containing a full description of the state of affairs in Ukraine.