Pope Francis today spoke out on the recent approval in Ukraine of a law banning the presence in the country of the Orthodox Church linked to the Patriarchate of Moscow (Russia). The Pope asked, “that those who want to pray in what they consider their Church be allowed to pray.”
On 25 August, after Angelus in front of the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, the Holy Father said: “I continue to follow with sorrow the fighting in Ukraine and the Russian Federation, and thinking about the laws recently adopted in Ukraine, I am overcome with fear for the freedom of those who pray, because those who truly pray always pray for everyone.”
“No harm is done by praying. If someone does harm to his people, he will be guilty of this, but he cannot have done harm by having prayed,” the Pope said.
“And then let those who want to pray in what they consider to be their Church be allowed to pray. Please, let no Christian Church be abolished, directly or indirectly. Churches are not to be touched!” he added.
The Ukrainian parliament voted to ban the presence in the country of any religious organization linked to Russia.
Pope Francis also asked yesterday that the Catholic faithful continue to pray “for an end to wars, in Palestine, in Israel, in Myanmar and every other region. The people are asking for peace! Let us pray that the Lord may give us all peace.”