
Russia Targets Churches in Crimea Crackdown, by Julia A Seymour, at World
"Amid the turmoil between Ukraine and Russia, Crimean Catholics fear Russian oppression and say their church already is suffering great persecution.
“'At this moment, all Ukrainian Greek Catholic life in Crimea is paralyzed,” Father Volodymyr Zhdan told Catholic News Agency (CNA) the day Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty annexing Crimea.
"Ahead of the March 16 referendum, in which an overwhelming majority of Crimeans voted to request the Russian annexation, Father Mykhailo Milchakovskyi, a Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest, toldCatholic News Service uncertainty about the church’s future had caused many congregants to sell their homes and migrate to other parts of Ukraine. “Our Church has no legal status in the Russian Federation, so it’s uncertain which laws will be applied if Crimea is annexed,” he said. “We fear our churches will be confiscated and our clergy arrested.'”