Ukrainian parliament bans Russian religious organisations in Ukraine
Photo: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate will have to prove that it has broken ties with the Russian Orthodox Church (Vitaliy Nosach/RBC-Ukraine)
The Verkhovna Rada has supported a ban on the Russian Orthodox Church and its affiliated organizations in Ukraine. The relevant bill was passed in the second reading, according to Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak.
265 MPs voted in favour. According to Zhelezniak, the law will come into force 30 days after its publication.
"But except for one point - according to it, the communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate will have 9 months to break ties with the Russian Orthodox Church," the parliamentarian wrote.
How the MPs voted (by faction):
- Servant of the People - 173
- European Solidarity - 25
- Fatherland - 17
- Platform for Life and Peace - 1
- For the Future - 9
- Holos - 18
- Dovira - 11
- Restoration of Ukraine - 0
- Non-factional - 11 votes.
Photo: Voting in the Verkhovna Rada in the second reading for the draft law on the ban of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine (t.me/yzheleznyak/8101)
What law is about
Article 5 of the law "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organisations" is amended to include the wording that states that religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence of a church whose governing center is located in Russia are not allowed to operate.
Part 16 of Article 6 is supplemented by a clause stating that in case of violations, the activities of a religious organization may be terminated in court at the request of the central executive body implementing state policy in the field of religion (or at the request of the prosecutor).
The law comes into force one month after its publication. Accordingly, the document has yet to be signed by the President.
What will happen to Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate?
As Mykyta Poturaev, chairman of the Rada's Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, explained, the main purpose of the bill is not to restrict the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate. The point is to effectively combat Russian propaganda spread through the church in the third year of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Accordingly, a religious organization in Ukraine has no right to be affiliated with or have hierarchical relations of subordination to a church that has a governing center in Russia. The ban on the Russian Orthodox Church does not automatically mean a ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate, as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate has declared that it is severing ties with Moscow. Now the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate has the opportunity to prove it, the MP said in a commentary to RBC-Ukraine.
According to the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Russian Orthodox Church will be banned immediately, while Ukrainian churches suspected of collaborating with the Russian Orthodox Church will have nine months to break ties.
Initially, organizations suspected of collaborating with the Russian Orthodox Church will be subject to an examination. If such signs are found, a decision will be made to terminate their activities, which can be appealed in court.
"We have calculated that it will take about a month for the law to come into force, 3 months for the Cabinet of Ministers to develop the regulatory framework, and then many implementations. In other words, in 9 months, the organizations to which the law applies may be recognized in court as having ceased their activities," Stefanchuk adds.
Other churches' reaction
Last week, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the bill with representatives of the Council of Churches and Religious Organisations.
"A draft law has been proposed to the Verkhovna Rada that can guarantee that there will be no manipulation of the Ukrainian church from Moscow. This bill should work and should add to Ukraine's unity, our real spiritual unity," he says.
The statement of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches supports the ban on relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and condemns the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has become an accomplice to the bloody crimes of the Russian invaders against humanity.
The head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Epiphany, called on the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, Onufriy, to start a dialogue on unification.
