Hundreds of Thousands of Ukrainians Await Justice: head of the UGCC
We are all aware today that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have the right to justice and are waiting for it. And we must do everything to ensure they get it as soon as possible. The Father and Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, stated during a roundtable discussion at Ukrinform “Judicial Transformation in Ukraine — Values and Actual Moral Dilemmas” on February 20, 2024, on the day of the 10th anniversary of the executions of the participants of the Revolution of Dignity.
“Everyone present here,” said the Head of the UGCC, “understands the responsibility we bear — the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, each of the clergy, particularly each of you, in your respective roles. If we do our best, people will finally witness justice.”
His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized that crime will always be punished, and this is an inescapable truth.
“Clearly, there are different stages of this inevitability of punishment and whether this justice will be completed by human or divine justice. Nevertheless, crime will always be met with punishment in one way or another. Perhaps this sounds cruel when spoken by a clergyman, but a perpetrator punishes himself; there is no need to pass judgment on him. When he commits a crime, he becomes a criminal. And in one way or another, the judge discloses this, states the fact, and makes it public,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized.
The Primate urged to unite efforts to transform the judicial system in Ukraine so that it becomes a virtuous system with fair laws, courts, and people: “Today, those who hear us should hear the word of hope. Together, we will transform and recreate the entire corrupt system of justice in Ukraine so that it becomes a virtuous system, so that our country has fair laws, fair courts, and, most importantly, fair people.”
During the roundtable, the Head of the UGCC also stated that “from the standpoint of Christian morality, the cases of Maidan have no statute of limitations.” “The statute of limitations,” he said, “can be invoked only when the crime relates to a person’s attitude to certain things. When it comes to the attitude of a person to a person and a crime against a human being, there can be no statute of limitations.”
His Beatitude Sviatoslav noted that even in the case of crimes related to property, the moral norm provides for restitution. Thus, according to him, one can speak of the termination of responsibility only when the person who committed the crime has compensated for the damage caused.
The Head of the UGCC also noted that the actions of the “Maidan judges” were the point of highest disregard for justice in Ukraine.
“Perhaps this was the pinnacle of justice degradation, which showed that we are the heirs of the repressive model, the judiciary as a power of repression, one of the tools not so much of the search for justice as a tool of oppression, which acts unjustly and is controlled by someone,” the Primate said.
The UGCC Department for Information
