Pope arrives in East Timor on his first trip to the deeply Catholic country after two decades of independence

Associated Press

DILI, East Timor (AP) — Pope arrives in East Timor on his first trip to the deeply Catholic country after two decades of independence.

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    STORY: At the ancient Danilov Monastery in Moscow, archpriest Igor Yakimchuk is adamant: you can't forbid people from praying in their chosen branch of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.He's angry at a new law passed by Kyiv that targets the Russia-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church , or UOC, which has long dominated religious life in Ukraine."What does it mean to ban a church, which is the largest religious denomination in Ukraine, no matter how much the current Ukrainian authorities would like to downplay its scale? Everyone understands perfectly well that it is impossible to forbid people to pray."Under the law, the Russian Orthodox Church was banned from Ukrainian territory.A government commission was also tasked with compiling a list of "affiliated" organizations.And that is expected to include the UOC.President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's administration accuses the UOC of spreading pro-Russian propaganda.It also claims it is housing spies, charges that the UOC denies.Ukrainian authorities have launched dozens of criminal proceedings, including treason charges, against dozens of its clergy. Whether the UOC retains the following it once did is disputed.A rival branch, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine or OCU, was set up to be fully independent of Moscow after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.Its popularity has grown rapidly since President Vladimir Putin sent his forces into Ukraine in 2022.Meanwhile, opinion polls suggest more than 80% of Ukrainians do not trust the UOC.The Kremlin, however, described Ukraine's new law as 'an open attack on freedom of religion.'In St Petersburg, ordinary Russian churchgoers expressed concern.Leonid Trofimuk, a Russian Orthodox priest branded Ukraine's action as 'Satanism'.He compared it to Soviet-era state repression of religion."The 20th century is behind us, and we saw the persecution of the church at that time, but we didn't think that there would be this kind of persecution that is going on now in Ukraine."The situation is a reflection of how the war in Ukraine had divided hierarchies in the two countries.And that's even though they all adhere to Eastern Orthodox Christianity.The process of shutting down UOC operations in Ukraine - something one Ukrainian lawmaker called "cleansing" - is likely to be lengthy and involve court battles.But the church's days seem numbered.

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