Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture threatened the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC) that should it continue preaching and praying on Maidan, it will be in violation of Ukrainian law regarding “freedom of conscience and religious organisations”, stressing that the UGCC has no right to perform these actions in public (!?!?!?) and threatened to revoke their license.
Head of UGCC response below.

source: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxFkxgcuRiEwbmY0bU5NSzlRRW8/edit?pli=1

13.01.2014

Department of Culture of Ukraine

To Svyatoslav Shevchuk – the primate of Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Kiyv-Galitskiy High archbishop

Your Grace!

The reports about religious activity are spreading wider and wider in mass media. It is mentioned that the actions of representatives of Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church during December, 2013 and January, 2014 on Maydan Nesalezhnosti [Independence Square] in Kyiv are contravening the claims of legislation of freedom of conscience and religious unions of Ukraine.

A particular suspense was aroused with the fact that systematic dereliction of legislation by some priests appears to be supported by hierarchy of Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, and it has a negative influence on rule of law in general and the juridical consciousness of citizens – worshippers of the Church.

According to your personal authority and the authority of Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, the further dereliction of subscripts of legislation of Ukraine, which adjust the problem of establishing temporary buildings on a religious purpose and actualization of a public worship, religious ceremonials etc., can affect negatively on the reliance between the state and the church and religious organizations in general and the concord in society and religious environment.

In this very case, the Department of Culture of Ukraine, as a central representative organ of executive in the field of religion, in order to observe the abidance of legislation of freedom of conscience and religious unions, would like you to pay attention to the requisition of the 21th article of the Law of Ukraine (The Law of freedom of conscience and religious unions ), which claims that public worships, religious ceremonials, processions etc. can take place without any introductive permission only in hieratical buildings and within adjacent territory, in pilgrimages, in the residence and apartments of citizens and some other places ( cemetery, crematory etc. )

In any other case, according to the legislation, public worships, religious ceremonials, processions etc. take place with permission of a corresponding regional administration of a state, which is absent at the moment.

According to the Law of Freedom of conscience and religious unions Of Ukraine, an infraction of subscripts above may be a reason for cancellation of the corresponding religious organizations.

To recapitulate, the Department of Ukraine is officially asking you to provide the compliance of the Law of Ukraine by religious organizations, which relate to Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church.

Yours faithfully,

The first Deputy of Secretary

T.G. Kohan

13/01/2014 Response of the Head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Svyatoslav Shevchenko, to the threat by Ukrainian Government’s Ministry of Culture to revoke their license:

original letter:

“Peace and Goodness”

Follow up: January 14, 2014

“The letter is quite simply a monstrous offensive on people’s right to gather and to pray where they wish.  This is a right that they have, not one which the president as guarantor of the Constitution is free to “provide”. ~Halya Coynash

“We are convinced that praying for peace together with those who are peacefully expressing their wish to live in a law-based country is an appropriate place for prayer. No permission is needed from a state authority for this”. ~Svyatoslav Shevchenko

from article by Halya Coynash:  http://khpg.org/index.php?id=1389741920