Kafter the ban of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church near Moscow from Kiev Pope Francis said on Sunday, with Volodymyr Zeleski responding to him on Tuesday.

“I continue to watch with sadness the fighting in Ukraine and the Russian Federation. And when I think about the laws recently passed in Ukraine, I fear for the freedom of those who pray, because those who truly pray always pray for everyone. Man does not commit evil because of prayer. If one commits evil against his people, he will be guilty of it, but he cannot have done evil because he prayed. So let those who want to pray be allowed to pray in what they consider their Church. Please, let no Christian Church be abolished directly or indirectly. Churches should not be touched!» said the Pontiff characteristically.

The Vatican’s negative reaction to the Ukrainian law banning the activities of Russian-linked religious organizations in Ukraine indicates the need to strengthen Ukraine’s work in the global media space to defend a true position, the Ukrainian president said.

“Influence. There is influence abroad, in Europe in various religious institutions… It is important not to lose contact with the Vatican or with Italy or with the information space of all Europe and the United States,” Zelensky said at a press conference in the context of the Forum for Independence in Kiev, commenting on the position of the Vatican, and answering a question about whether international partners understand that it is not about the church as such (which was banned), but about Russia’s zone of influence on the territory of Ukraine .

Zelensky said that the entire team of the Ukrainian president had meetings in the Vatican at various levels.

“It is very difficult (to explain the position of the hostile influence of the Russian Orthodox Church). This has nothing to do with the Vatican, but once you stop the fight for information everything is filled with information from Russia They work like clockwork in this,” noted the Ukrainian head of state.

“Everywhere – from business to politics – there is religion. Therefore: only work every day. And today there is a statement [από το Βατικανό]and tomorrow, if you work, there may be another statement. The church is working hard abroad,” said Zelensky.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law on Saturday banning the country’s Orthodox Church from being affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church announced in May 2022 that it was severing all ties with the Moscow Patriarchate. But the Ukrainian government believes that the Church in question remains de facto dependent on Russia, and criminal investigations are underway against its officials.

According to a poll conducted in 2023 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 66% of Ukrainians supports the banning of the Moscow-affiliated Church.