Ukrainian presidential election threat to religious freedom

As voters in Ukraine decide who'll be their next president this weekend Christians in the former Soviet Union country are concerned about the potential loss of religious freedom.

Sunday, February 7th marks the date for a run-off election which pits Viktor Yanukovich, against Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko - the two who took first and second in the elections.

Sergey Rakhuba with Russian Ministries is concerned that if Yanukovich wins, "He will follow the Russian example, and religious freedom will have a lot more problems. He will limit Christian activity. He will control non-profit organization, mission activity, and he will give priority to the Orthodox Church."

He added: "Viktor Yanukovych the leader of the Party of Regions, has spoken out in the past against the evangelical church, saying that all priorities should be given to the Orthodox church because he wants the whole nation to follow this tradition," explains Sergey.

He added: "Because he's supported by the Russian Orthodox Church, which monopolizes all religious activity back in Russia, it means if he wins, the evangelical church and all ex-patriot mission activities could be limited as they are in Russia under the current administration. It would mean they wouldn't be able to do their social ministries such as reaching out to needy children in orphanages and helping poor families, without an approval from the Orthodox Church.

"They won't be able to reach out to poor families or conduct evangelistic events or any outside church activities without special permission from the authorities and approved by their local Orthodox priest. From our experience in Russia none of the Orthodox priests would approve any religious activity especially involving the evangelical church but theirs.

"So lots of Christian leaders have concerns that if this pro-Russian candidate wins the election he might apply the same approach to restrict religious freedom and will limit all other pro-active groups. So they would give a more prominent role to the Orthodox Church which is enjoying that cozy relationship in Russia, but also they have all the power to push everybody else out of Russia."

Rakhuba says their work will continue no matter what. "We'll continue to train national leaders despite any political implications. It could be more difficult. It could be more restrictive. We would have to be more proactive and creative to equip the national leaders."

News source: www.assistnews.net