Lauren B. Homer
In January 1994 Ukraine added restrictive amendments to its 1991 Law on Religious Organizations. A June 1994 directive of the Ministry of Education also curtailed activities of foreign organizations in Ukrainian schools. The January 1994 amendments disallowed religious organizations whose "rites and ministry are accompanied by infringements on the lives, health, freedom, and dignity of citizens" or which systematically violate laws on prohibiting public religious events. These changes followed the widely publicized call for collective suicide by leaders of the White Brotherhood, among other events. Also, restrictions on foreign religious workers in Ukraine now state that they may "engage in preaching religious doctrines, performing religious rites, and other canon activities solely in the religious organization at whose invitation they have arrived, and by official agreement with the state organs that have registered the statutes (regulations) of the relevant religious organization." In short, specific government approval is required before a foreigner may enter Ukraine to engage in religious activities, which has created a bureaucratic bottleneck and has raised the possibility of the exclusion of unpopular groups.
Following a brief "working group" study of public school presentations of various religious organizations, the Ministry of Education, on 24 June 1994, issued Order No. 198, which specifically bars the Unification Church, the International School Project, Accelerated Christian Education, the CoMission, and other mission groups from Ukrainian schools and bans Western religious materials and teaching methods. The Ministry of Education transferred ACE schools to the state system of education. Authorities alleged that the new measures brought Ukraine into compliance with its own Law on Freedom of Conscience and the UN Declarations on the Rights of the Child.
Another significant development was the abolition of Ukraine's Council on Religious Affairs during the summer of 1994. Its staff was fired and a new Ministry on Nationalities assumed its regulatory authority. Some speculate that this was a step in the direction of establishment of the Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate, as a state church.
A September 1994 international conference on church-state relations sponsored by the Ukrainian Legal Foundation produced a number of recommendations. A wide array of Ukrainian parliamentarians, administrators, religious groups, and international experts attended. Recommendations included moving responsibility for registration of religious organizations to the presumably more neutral Ministry of Justice, and taking other measures to ensure that religious groups obtain their rights under the law. Many groups have found it impossible to register, including even the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. Conference participants expressed the need to work cooperatively on common problems and not to look to the state for support. In the absence of a new system for registration of organizations and visa approvals, foreign religious workers have found it increasingly difficult to work in Ukraine. Additional Ukrainian restrictions on the registration of foreign religious groups as civic associations may be forthcoming. 
Lauren B. Homer, "Religion and the Law in Ukraine," East-West Church & Ministry Report, 3 (Winter 1995), 2.
