The Ukrainian Orthodox Church becomes the target of a new bill passed by the Ukrainian Parliament that bans religious groups linked to Moscow.
The Ukrainian Parliament approved a bill what prohibits the activities of religious groups linked to the Russian Orthodox Churchor any other religious group that supports Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to the bill, the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church are “an ideological extension of the regime of the aggressor state and accessory to war crimes and crimes against humanity.” The Verkhovna Rada approved the bill on Tuesday with 265 votes in favor and only 29 against.
Ukrainian Orthodox Church targeted by new bill
All eyes now turn to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (IOU), historically linked to the Russian Church. The metropolitan bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church insists on its independence from Moscow and describes the new law as controversial.
“The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is independent and autonomous in its administration. It is not subordinated to any center within Ukraine, that is, to any center other than the metropolis of Kiev. And certainly not to any center outside Ukraine, whether in a country that calls itself the aggressor state or in any other country. There are no foreign centers that can influence the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” says the bishop.
A lawyer representing the Ukrainian Orthodox Church added that the bill is a “grotesque violation of religious freedom”.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church maintains historical ties with the Russian Orthodox Church
But the Ukrainian government claims that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church remains linked to the Russian Church and its Moscow-based patriarch, who has described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a “holy war.”
The country’s security agency registered the ecclesiastical seats of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and shared the evidence he had found, including Russian passports and pro-Russian pamphlets.
After examining the governing documents of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience decided that these churches remain a structural unit of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (IOU) – different from the UOC – describes the law as important “since the Patriarch Cyril blessed the killing of Ukrainians and the destruction of the Ukrainian state”, and states that “it is difficult to imagine how the activities of this organization can be tolerated on the territory of our Ukrainewho is suffering from this war.”
The Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenskihas yet to sign the law, although he is expected to do so. Earlier this month, Zelensky declared that “it is our common duty to ensure the spiritual independence of Ukraine.”
