The authorities in Ukraine have once again demonstrated an example of “democracy and freedom of religion.” According to the website of the city council in the town of Horodenka in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, on August 2nd, the day of memory of the Prophet Elijah, the police dispersed the liturgy of the UOC (Ukrainian Orthodox Church) community that believers were conducting in a private (!) home.
“Vigilant” neighbors called the police, who, as stated in the publication, “disrupted the small gathering.”
With pride, the authorities of Horodenka announce that the city council has “prepared a relevant letter to law enforcement agencies to prevent such situations in the future.” The basis for such actions against peacefully praying people is not mentioned. The authorities only referred to the fact that they had already banned the UOC twice (!) in the city and called on the President and the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) to liquidate the Church.
The case in Horodenka is not an isolated one: in Ivano-Frankivsk, parishioners and clergy were driven out of the cathedral with tear gas, and in Lviv, the UOC church was demolished with an excavator. Therefore, it would be funny to be surprised and point to the Constitution and laws. The truth today is that UOC believers are treated as second-class citizens, persecuted in their own country, and harassed for remaining Christians and members of Christ’s Church.
Just think, in the 21st century, in a country that declares its commitment to European values, people are not only expelled from churches but are even denied the right to pray in their own homes!
It’s all like in the times of Nero and Diocletian.
Well, before our eyes, the words of Christ are being fulfilled: “They persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20), and to the persecutors, one may recall other words of the Savior: “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet” (Matthew 10:14). Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.