Ukrainian Christian Churches seeking to make real steps to implement prison chaplaincy.

December 15, 2011 a roundtable entitled "Implementation of the religious rights of convicts and persons who are in pretrial detention. The influence of spiritual and moral factor in the correction of prisoners" has been held in the URINFORM agency with the assistance of the National Expert Commission of Ukraine for protection of public morals and the Association of Ukrainian Lawyers.

During the roundtable, which was attended by members of the Ukrainian Interdenominational Christian Mission "Religious and charity care in prison", officials of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine, Co-Chair and members of the Public Council the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine, was presented the achievements of partnership between Churches and Penal System of Ukraine. Particularly stressed the indispensable role of Christian spirituality in repentance and reconciliation but especially - the role of Christian ministry to help our fellow citizens to come back into society.

According to statistics of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine there are 74 churchbuildings, 46 chapels, 4 houses of prayer, 202 prayer rooms and 17 places of worship. The total number of convicts believers who constantly attend religious activities is about 38 thousand people, and 2,349 of clergy and volunteers who come for spiritual-educational work with convicts. Those clergy and volunteers representing 103 religious faiths, communities, organizations and churches, officially registered in Ukraine. Recently the chapel was consecrated in Derzhyv ML 110.

The participants of the "round table" noted that in 20 years of independence of Ukraine the cooperation of Churches and religious organizations with the Criminal-Executive Service of Ukraine has become more systematic, but it needs further improvement and proper legal support. In their opinion, any prisoner should have access to spiritual care by representatives of his or her denomination and those who are in pretrial detention.

It was stated that the leading goal of humanizing the penal sphere should be the creation of the officially recognized prison chaplaincy. That's why representatives of all denominations that officially exist in Ukraine, must be engaged in the process of concept for development of this institution. In this regard the round table participants agreed to appeal to relevant authorities with a proposal to solve the existing stumbling blocks for realization of religious rights of prisoners and persons who are in pretrial detention.
 

As a kind of preparation for the roundtable was the seminar on "Legal problems of the right to freedom of conscience in pretrial detention" in the morning of December 15, that was organized for the priests at the National Expert Commission of Ukraine on protection of public morals for board members of the Mission. Tatyana A. Denisova - vice-rector for research and educational work of classical private university, the director of the Institute of Law named. Stashysa Vladimir, Doctor of Law, Professor, Honored Lawyer of Ukraine, and Gennady S. Syemakov - PhD in Law, Professor of Criminal Law and Procedure of the Kiev University of Law National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, taught how Churches could participate in preparation of legislative support of pastoral ministry in prisons.