Ukrainian Catholic Church officials bar priests from campaigning

Published: 2006-01-30

OXFORD, England (CNS) -- Ukrainian Catholic Church officials have barred priests from campaigning in the country's upcoming elections and warned that they will violate church rules if they engage in some business activities. The decision is outlined in a statement from the Ukrainian-rite Synod of Bishops, which met in mid-January in Lviv, Ukraine. The statement added that church law also bars priests from dealing "with financial transactions and trade, either for their own or another's benefit." During a Jan. 21 press conference, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of Kiev-Halych said the synod had "strictly interpreted church rules" in preparation for the March 26 parliamentary ballot, the first since Ukraine's 2004 disputed presidential election known as the Orange Revolution.

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