Government butts into religion in Ukraine

Ukrainian Catholic leader calls shrine legislation 'clear threat'

Ukrainian Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych, the new head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
CNS photo/Paul Haring

Cardinal Timothy Dolan isn't the only Catholic leader dealing with a meddlesome government. Catholic News Service reports Ukraine's government is backing legislation to transfer control of Christian shrines to the Orthodox Church. Which could cause a whole host a problems according to Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk: 

KIEV, Ukraine (CNS) -- The major archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church said government-backed legislation to transfer control of key national Christian shrines to the Orthodox Church was "a clear threat to the interdenominational peace and agreement established in our state during recent years.

"Do the authors of this bill understand that, by their initiative, they are again pushing our motherland into a whirlpool of interdenominational -- and in this case interethnic -- confrontation with unpredictable consequences?" asked Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych.

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.