Source: www.forum18.org
Date: February 5, 2020
The rebel Luhansk People's Republic – which denies registration to many
religious communities including all Protestants – threatens to cut off
gas, electricity and water to places of worship belonging to unrecognised
communities. The rebel authorities have allowed the only Catholic priest to
return to the territory, but have not said if he can remain permanently or
only for three months.
DONBAS: Luhansk: No gas, electricity or water for unregistered communities
http://www.forum18.org/archive
By Felix Corley, Forum 18
In 2019 the rulers of the unrecognised self-declared Luhansk People's
Republic (LPR) in eastern Ukraine cut off or threatened to cut off gas,
electricity and water supplies to religious communities which had a
recognised place of worship but which failed to gain registration under LPR
laws. Gas supplies were cut off in 2019. In late 2019 the LPR authorities
also threatened to cut off electricity and water supplies.
"Officials argue that they cannot supply gas, electricity and water to
organisations that don't officially exist, as they can't have contracts
with them," Baptist Pastor Serhii Moroz told Forum 18 (see below).
In December 2019 Culture, Sport and Youth Minister Dmitry Sidorov, revealed
that of the 195 registered religious organisations, 188 are from the
Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate. The others are Muslim, Old
Believer, Jewish and Catholic. No Protestant, Jehovah's Witness, Hare
Krishna or other communities are allowed to get registration (see below).
In December 2019 the LPR authorities allowed the only Roman Catholic priest
serving the two local Catholic parishes to return to the region, but
without saying if he can remain permanently or if he will have to leave
when three months are up (see below).
"This year we lived for a long time with no priest," local Catholics wrote
in a Christmas 2019 letter to the Vatican nuncio, who led the Christmas
Mass in Luhansk on 25 December. "It was very difficult" (see below).
Fr Grzegorz Rapa is only allowed to stay in LPR-controlled territory for
three months at a time, and then must leave for three months. In the three
months when Fr Rapa is unable to visit Luhansk, Catholics are deprived of
the opportunity to receive Communion. Receiving Communion is for Catholics
an integral part of participating in the Mass (see below).
Catholic nuns who used to work in the Luhansk parish left amid the conflict
in 2014. "The people want them to work there again. We want them to," one
Catholic told Forum 18 (see below).
Inna Sheryayeva, head of the Culture, Sport and Youth Ministry's Religious
Organisations and Spirituality Department, with whom the Catholics are
discussing Fr Rapa's case, refused to explain to Forum 18 why it is
obstructing his residence in Luhansk (see below).
The rebel authorities have also banned many religious leaders from outside
their territory from visiting their fellow believers
(http://www.forum18.org/archiv
access by the Greek Catholic bishop and a Greek Catholic priest, the bishop
of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and many Protestant leaders. This has
left their local communities isolated from their fellow-believers
elsewhere.
In late January 2020, the unrecognised LPR's State Security Ministry
threatened Baptist Pastor Vladimir Rytikov – a Soviet-era prisoner of
conscience – with an "extremism" criminal prosecution if he continues to
lead Council of Churches Baptist meetings for worship without the
permission of the LPR authorities
(http://www.forum18.org/archiv
rebel authorities banned 12 books published by the Council of Churches
Baptists – including the Gospel of John – as "extremist".
(http://www.forum18.org/archiv
Prosecutors are also still investigating Orthodox Church of Ukraine priest
Fr Anatoli Nazarenko on "extremism" charges.
(http://www.forum18.org/archiv
Pro-Russian rebels seized parts of Ukraine's Luhansk Region in March 2014
and the following month proclaimed what they called the Luhansk People's
Republic (LPR), which is internationally unrecognised. Heavy fighting
ensued. The rebel administration, which in February 2020 controls about a
third of Ukraine's Luhansk Region, has declared a state of martial law.
Pro-Russian rebels similarly seized parts of Ukraine's Donetsk Region in
April 2014 and proclaimed what they called the Donetsk People's Republic
(DPR), which is also internationally unrecognised. Heavy fighting ensued.
The rebel administration in February 2020 controls nearly half of Ukraine's
Donetsk Region. The rebel-held area adjoins the rebel-held area of Luhansk
Region.
Registration – only for a few
As of December 2019, the LPR authorities had registered only 195 religious
organisations, according to figures given by Dmitry Sidorov, Culture, Sport
and Youth Minister, at a 26 December 2019 briefing in the government
building in Luhansk.
The rebel Luhansk authorities insist that religious communities that have
not been given permission to exist via registration are illegal. They point
to a May 2015 Decree by Igor Plotnitsky, the then Head of the unrecognised
entity, banning mass events while the area is under martial law
(http://www.forum18.org/archiv
local Religion Law approved by the LPR People's Council.
The Law bans all non-Moscow Patriarchate Orthodox churches from applying
for state permission to exist
(http://www.forum18.org/archiv
Church of Ukraine – the successor of the Kiev Patriarchate – has not
applied for registration for its Luhansk cathedral and another parish in
the rebel-controlled territory.
Of the 195 religious organisations registered in December 2019, 188 were of
the Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate, four were Muslim, and one
each were Old Believer, Jewish and Catholic, Sidorov noted.
The Religion Law bans all exercise of freedom of religion and belief
without the permission of the authorities
(http://www.forum18.org/archiv
community received state permission to exist. Following this, "with great
pain" Seventh-day Adventist communities reluctantly decided to halt all
their activities to avoid "provoking unpleasantness" and the seizure of
church property, including musical instruments and communion vessels. In
September 2018 Jehovah's Witnesses were banned.
In March 2019, all Baptist Union congregations were ordered to halt public
meetings for worship or face punishment.
(http://www.forum18.org/archiv
didn't insist that our churches should not meet for worship," Pastor Igor
Bandura of the Ukrainian Baptist Union told Forum 18. "But they have now
sent a clear message that they will not tolerate such meetings for worship
any more." The Baptist Union reluctantly decided that its congregations
could no longer meet publicly for services after the last Sunday worship on
10 March 2019.
Inna Sheryayeva, head of the Religious Organisations and Spirituality
Department of the Culture, Sport and Youth Ministry in Luhansk, refused to
tell Forum 18 if any other religious communities have gained registration
since December 2019 or why applications from many communities – including
all Protestant communities - have been refused.
Officials of the Registration Department of the Justice Ministry – which
is supposed to register religious communities – have repeatedly refused
absolutely to say which communities have been allowed to register and which
have been refused, or give any overall statistics.
Culture, Sport and Youth Minister Sidorov claimed at the 26 December 2019
briefing that a "further range of organisations which have undergone the
religious studies expert analysis are now in the stage of state
registration with the LPR Justice Ministry".
Some religious communities have not applied for registration and so
permission to exist. Council of Churches Baptists (who do not seek
registration on principle as they see this as leading to state
interference) are therefore regarded as "illegal"
(http://www.forum18.org/archiv
as the Baptists have noted - the local Religion Law stating in Article 3,
Part 1 that people have the right to form religious associations, "but this
is not obligatory".
Jehovah's Witnesses also did not apply for state permission to exist,
pointing out that "the registration procedure implies the revealing of
personal information on the worshippers who could easily become new
targets".
No registration – no gas, electricity, water
Religious communities which had a recognised place of worship but which
failed to gain registration under LPR laws had their gas cut off in 2019,
Baptist Pastor Serhii Moroz, who is originally from the region but now
lives in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, told Forum 18 on 4 February 2020. In
late 2019 came the threat that electricity and water too would be cut off.
"Officials argue that they cannot supply gas, electricity and water to
organisations that don't officially exist, as they can't have contracts
with them," Pastor Moroz told Forum 18.
Communities which met in church members' homes have not had gas,
electricity and water supplies cut, Pastor Moroz added.
Inna Sheryayeva, head of the Religious Organisations and Spirituality
Department of the Culture, Sport and Youth Ministry in Luhansk, told Forum
18 she had not heard that gas, electricity and water supplies have been or
are threatened with being cut off to places of worship that have not been
able to gain registration.
"A long time with no priest"
In late 2019, the LPR authorities allowed the only Roman Catholic priest
serving the local Catholic parishes – in Luhansk and Stakhanov [official
Ukrainian name Kadiyevka] - to return to the region. Fr Grzegorz Rapa
returned in early December 2019. However, the LPR authorities have not yet
told him if he can remain permanently or if he will have to leave again in
March 2020 when three months are up.
Fr Rapa – a Polish priest who has served Luhansk's Nativity of the
Blessed Virgin Mary parish since 1993 – was earlier not allowed to live
there permanently. "He can stay there for three months, then has to be out
for three months," Bishop Jan Sobilo told Forum 18 in October 2019.
(http://www.forum18.org/archiv
This means that in the three months when Fr Rapa is unable to visit
Luhansk, Catholics are deprived of the opportunity to receive Communion.
Receiving Communion is for Catholics an integral part of participating in
the Mass.
When Fr Rapa is unable to live in or visit Luhansk, Mass has to be
broadcast over the internet via Skype to the congregation in the church.
"They have to set up a screen on the altar and a projector," Bishop Sobilo
told Forum 18 (http://www.forum18.org/archiv
like in Soviet times." He recalled that during Soviet years, a radio was
often put on the altar of a church with no priest to broadcast Mass to the
congregation.
Catholic nuns who used to work in the Luhansk parish left amid the conflict
in 2014. "The people want them to work there again. We want them to," one
Catholic told Forum 18.
The rebel LPR authorities have also banned many religious leaders from
outside their territory from visiting their fellow believers
(http://www.forum18.org/archiv
access by the Greek Catholic bishop and a Greek Catholic priest, the bishop
of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and many Protestant leaders. This has
left their local communities isolated from their fellow-believers
elsewhere.
"This year we lived for a long time with no priest," local Catholics wrote
in a Christmas 2019 letter to the Vatican nuncio Archbishop Claudio
Gugerotti, who led the Christmas Mass in Luhansk on 25 December. "It was
very difficult. And not only for us. Now he has returned, Fr Grzegorz has
to work much harder to help us overcome all the difficulties we face. We
are very grateful to our parish priest."
The letter – read out by a parishioner from the Stakhanov parish at the
Christmas Mass in Luhansk - was posted on the Vatican Nunciature website.
Archbishop Gugerotti also sent a copy to Pope Francis on 28 December 2019.
The Pope responded later the same day with a hand written note, saying how
touched he had been by the letter from the parishioners of Luhansk and
Stakhanov and offering his prayers.
"It is not clear if the Luhansk authorities will allow Fr Rapa to remain
there permanently, or if he will be required to leave again after three
months," Catholics told Forum 18 on 5 February. "This is still being
discussed." Catholics have been liaising with the Religious Organisations
and Spirituality Department of the Culture, Sport and Youth Ministry in
Luhansk.
However, Inna Sheryayeva, head of the Religious Organisations and
Spirituality Department, refused to discuss with Forum 18 the difficulties
the LPR authorities are causing Catholics by refusing to allow Fr Rapa to
remain permanently in Luhansk to serve the Catholic community. (END)
Full reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Donbas
(http://www.forum18.org/archiv
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