A controversial ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) has passed initial votes from lawmakers due to it linked with the Russian Orthodox Church. The Ukrainian Orthodox religion is the country’s largest religious affiliation.
On Thursday, the local council in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv became the first to ban a branch of the church that was directly affiliated with Moscow until last month. This came after Ukrainian security services conducted several raids against Orthodox monasteries and churches, including the famous Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery.
The Ukraine government has adopted the bill no. 8371 which bans the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The vote was 267 to 15.
“Christianity is greatest when it’s hated by the world.” – St. Ignatius of Antioch
Please write your local congressmen and most of all, pray. pic.twitter.com/0cOuxgLAGD
— Theophan (@uncreated_light) October 19, 2023
On October 5, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s Parliament, registered a draft law banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). After collecting the necessary 226 votes, the bill was officially registered for consideration. The proposed bill stated the possible banning of “any religious organization affiliated with war propaganda or justifying the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
Learn the benefits of becoming a Valuetainment Member and subscribe today!
“Draft law number 8371 on the prohibition of religious organizations associated with the Russian Federation was adopted in the first reading,” lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak announced, after it passed 267 to 15.
Lawmaker Inna Sovsun praised the vote as “extremely important.”
“So far, this is only the first reading, but it is still a historic decision,” she said on social media. “In order to defeat the aggressor, we need to think asymmetrically and leave no room for Russia to harm us.”
However, the UOC shared their disappointment at the proposed ban, saying it violated the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of religion.
“Undoubtedly, the adoption of this draft law will indicate that human rights and freedoms, for which our state is also fighting, are losing their meaning,” it said.
The UOC appointed international lawyer Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam & Partners LLP: “Contrary to the Ukrainian government’s propaganda, the UOC is an independent church – instead we are witnessing pure political persecution and opportunism, which has nothing to do with Ukraine’s national security,” he said.
A poll in June 2023 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found two-thirds of Ukrainians supported an outright ban on the UOC.
Add comment