The hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church noted the double standards of European human rights defenders who prefer not to notice the seizure of churches of the UOC.

Western human rights activists, with rare exceptions, prefer not to react to the seizures of the churches of the UOC and the persecution of the canonical Church in Ukraine, which demonstrates double standards in the field of information policy, said the head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion, in the “Church and the World” programme, reports the DECR of the Moscow Patriarchate.

“All this has been recorded. All this is known. These facts were published in the press. But Western human rights activists, with rare exceptions, prefer to keep silent about this. This is very sad, because it testifies to double standards in the field of information policy,” said the hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.

He pointed out the need for an adequate response from those who fight for human rights to the seizure of churches of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which were initiated by the authorities during the presidency of Petro Poroshenko.

As reported, representatives of the communities of the seized temples of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church at their congress called on the authorities to abolish anti-church laws and stop the persecution.