On August 20, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a draft law that provides for the regulation of the activities of religious organizations that have their headquarters in Russia. According to this law, such organizations must cease their activities on the territory of Ukraine. 265 People’s Deputies voted for the document, and it will enter into force 30 days after its official publication. The law caused widespread discussion in society. We offer you the most acute and interesting comments of politicians, the UOC and its defenders.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on this event in the following words:
“A law has been passed regarding our spiritual independence. This is what we talked about with the members of the Council of Churches and Religious Organizations. And in a few days I will speak with the representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. We will continue to strengthen Ukraine, our society”, – he said in his video message.
People’s deputy from the “Voice” party, Roman Lozynskyi, also expressed his support for the adoption of the law, noting that this is a historic vote. He emphasized that there is a long bureaucratic path ahead, but today the process of cleaning Ukraine from the Kremlin’s agent network, which for a long time was hiding under the guise of a religious organization, began.
“We still have a long bureaucratic path ahead of us. But today we have embarked on the inevitable path of cleansing from the inside of the Kremlin’s agent network, which for decades hid behind the mask of a religious organization.” – he wrote on Facebook.
The “European Solidarity” faction welcomed the adoption of this decision, but stressed that the Verkhovna Rada should have done it earlier. Petro Poroshenko, speaking on the “Pryamiy” TV channel, said:
“Back in 2019, we adopted the Law on Truth and Prohibition of Lies. Law on Renaming. The Church of the Moscow Patriarchate should be called what it really is, a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church.
5 years have passed, and not a single parish has been renamed. We demand from the Ministry of Justice: enforce the law! If the church looks like the Russian patriarchate, prays for the health of Cyril, refuses to eulogize Ukrainian soldiers, it is the Russian patriarchate. Therefore, either cancel the registration, or let them be renamed.
Because our goal is to have a single church in Ukraine under the omophorion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Without the influence of Russian agents. And we will definitely achieve this! The law that the Verkhovna Rada passed today is not about prohibiting Orthodox believers from going to church.
We gave 9 months for churches to determine their future path: transition to a single Orthodox church or closing parishes. Our main goal is to unite into a single canonical cathedral Orthodox church of Ukraine under the omophorion of the mother church of the Ecumenical Patriarch.”
Elizaveta Bogutska, a deputy from the “Servant of the People” faction, expressed her support for the adopted law, writing on Facebook:
“The last claws of the FSB in Ukraine, which were covered by the church for decades – are broken! ROC (UPC MP) is not about faith, spirituality, or religion. It’s about the indulgence of the rights of Ukrainians, it’s about the destruction of citizens’ consciousness, it’s about the Kremlin’s narratives.”
Religious scholar and philosopher Iryna Bogachevska noted that the UOC MP will probably appeal to the international community, trying to prove that this law violates freedom of religion. However, she emphasized that the law is legally verified and is aimed at protecting this freedom, as decisions on banning the activities of religious organizations will be made on a multi-level basis – by the commission and the court. Each religious community will have the right to appeal this decision.
“Where are the restrictions on freedom of religion? All the more so because the draft law was supported by the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, which includes representatives of various denominations, who, on the contrary, defend freedom of religion in Ukraine.” – noted she.
Political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko emphasized on several key points of this bill:
“First, it is obvious that after the adoption of this draft law, the UOC MP will no longer be able to exist in its current form. But this does not mean that the church itself will instantly disappear. Both in terms of regulations and procedures, there will be a certain transition period. And in fact, the main task is not simply the adoption of this bill, but the real and effective provision of those transformational processes that are prescribed in this bill. In this context, it is necessary to remember our traditional problem – it is not enough to pass a law, it is necessary to properly ensure its implementation. In our country, unfortunately, very often the letter of the law does not always correlate with the practice of its application.
Secondly, the law will most likely face large-scale resistance at the implementation stage, both protest and legal. He predicts that informational and political campaigns against the banning of the UOC-MP in Ukraine will be conducted, both in the country itself and abroad, in particular in various international organizations. Bureaucratic resistance is also not excluded, which can lead to delays and imitation of the implementation of the law, so it is necessary to plan appropriate countermeasures.
Thirdly, the adoption of this law signals that the Ukrainian authorities are not going to bargain with Russia regarding the status of the UOC MP in the process of future peace negotiations. Russia will almost certainly insist on the restoration of the Moscow Church in Ukraine as one of the conditions for ending the war. “We also need to prepare for this problem.”
UOC Metropolitan Kliment in his comments hromadske said that after the deputies passed the bill in the first reading, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will continue to live as a true church, and any attempt to ban it could lead to the discrediting of those who do so. He emphasized that draft law No. 8371 is possible and prohibits the UOC MP, but the Ukrainian Orthodox Church does not have a prefix MP.
“The Ukrainian Orthodox Church will continue to live as a true church, recognized by the vast majority of practicing Ukrainian believers and local churches of the world. This is an objective thing. Any attempts to ban an objective thing will only lead to discredit, including international discredit, of those who want to implement it somehow.” Metropolitan Kliment believes.
Kliment also claims that the law that the deputies voted for today is no longer about the church itself, but about its property. He noted that such a situation resembles historical parallels with the communist past. He emphasized that this law concerns religious organizations that are affiliated with foreign centers, and the UOC has no administrative ties with such centers.
“If someone accuses her of this, it will be extremely manipulative, since there is no Ukrainian document that would confirm this.” Metropolitan Kliment added.
When asked whether the UOC MP plans to unite with the OCU, Klyment noted that the UOC has repeatedly called on the OCU to find ways to unify Ukrainian Orthodoxy, but has not received an adequate response.
At the same time in comments Metropolitan Kliment of the BBC noted:
“It is obvious, and the legal department of the Verkhovna Rada itself wrote about it, that the new law goes against the Ukrainian constitution and a number of obligations of Ukraine, which it must comply with under international agreements, including on the way to integration into the European space. Apparently, those who lobbied for this law are consciously interested in creating such a scandal. However, somehow few people pay attention to the fact that, first of all, the newly adopted law violates another law – on decommunization. One of Lenin’s first decrees after coming to power was a decree about the church, and then about the confiscation of its property and deprivation of its registration.
Everything that recently happened around the adoption of Law 8371 caused a kind of steady recovery in the memory of all the things that not only brought us back to the atheistic ideology of the Soviet times, but also to the methods by which this ideology was implemented. The Soviet authorities tried to ban the church with many laws. And when she realized that it was impossible to do this by law, then she began to shoot millions of believers of various denominations, including those loyal to her. Of course, in the 21st century, this is no longer possible, but society must be very attentive to the appearance of any manifestations of segregation of Ukrainian citizens into right and wrong. After all, those who did not understand Jesus Christ crucified Him solely on political charges.”
The BBC also spoke with defenders of the UOC.
“Our team will work to ensure that sanctions and other legal consequences are imposed on those who allowed this attack on freedom of religion in Ukraine. We will challenge the law both in Ukraine and in the West. There are weak points in the document, which can be the basis for its appeal both in the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and in the European Court of Human Rights. Of course, these lawsuits will drag on for years.” — noted in the conversation, religious scholar Andrii Smirnov.
Virtually all interlocutors of BBC Ukraine, both in power and in the opposition, both in the UOC and in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, are convinced that the law will not lead to a revolution in church life.
“The OCU received a tomos on autocephaly from Constantinople in 2019, and Patriarch Bartholomew recognizes it as the only canonical structure in Ukraine. But in the world, the OCU has been recognized by only four local churches out of 14. UOC parishes are gradually transitioning into an autocephalous church, but slowly – about two thousand in 5 years. This law will facilitate and speed up the transition of some UOC parishes to the OCU. But as long as the UOC is ruled by Metropolitan Onufriy, unification with the OCU will not take place. Therefore, there are several scenarios: negotiations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and litigation with the state, and then going underground and marginalization. Nothing threatens them even after the court has terminated the registration of a legal entity. Communities can operate without registration, and temples can be registered as individuals. Believers of the UOC will continue to be able to gather and pray in them.” Andriy Smirnov stressed.
