Ukraine attacks the Church of England’s ‘pro-Russia propaganda’

Perhaps Justin Welby expected gratitude from Ukraine, after the Church of England’s Synod debated the war this week. He certainly didn’t expect a double rebuke from the country, a sacred and secular censure.

In letters to Welby that have not been published but have been shown to me, two official Ukrainian bodies have protested at the briefing document that was prepared ahead of the debate. As I argued yesterday, the briefing document is inappropriately even-handed, as if both sides in the conflict are caught up in a tragic muddle, and as if no particular religious body is more culpable than any other.

A letter from Anatoliy Kozachok, Presiding Chairman of the Ukrainian Council of Churches, expresses amazement that the Synod’s report ‘repeats pro-Russian propaganda narratives about Ukraine’s alleged violation of basic democratic principles and religious freedom.’ It suggests that the Church of England has been unduly influenced by ‘those who represent the interests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (in unity with the Russian Orthodox church)’.