Verkhovna Rada registers a bill to ban Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine

Mykola Kniazhytsky. Photo: prolviv.com

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has registered a bill banning the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church on the territory of Ukraine. This was reported on the telegram channel of the European Solidarity party.

The initiator of the bill was the MP from the ES faction Mykola Kniazhytsky. The bill provides for a complete ban on the activities of any religious organizations and institutions that are part of or recognize in any form the subordination to the ROC "in canonical, organizational, and other matters."

The Poroshenko’s ES party notes that the purpose of the bill is to prevent threats to the national security of Ukraine and ensure order, because “for too long the ROC has carried out explicit anti-Ukrainian and sabotage activities and defended all the actions of the criminal Russian regime.”

“The activities of Orthodox religious organizations in Ukraine should be carried out taking into account the Patriarchal and Synodal Tomos granted to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian state,” and “the liberation of Ukraine from the ROC is another step towards independent Ukraine,” the message says.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the ES MP demanded to deprive the UOC representatives of the “For the Defense of Kharkiv” award.

Read also

Ostapenko: Everyone in UCCRO feels fine except the “FSB UOC”

The director of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve called the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches “a wonderful organization.”

Khmelnytskyi Eparchy donates funds for treatment of 12-year-old girl

UOC believers raised UAH 20,000 for Anastasiia Mamchur as part of an eparchial charity campaign.

Shevchuk: We had to convince world UOC ban does not violate religious freedom

The UGCC head claims that by banning the UOC, the state is not violating religious freedom but merely protecting the Church’s faithful from Moscow propaganda.

Lavra reserve head estimates damage to Dormition Cathedral at €15 million

Maksym Ostapenko said restoring the Dormition Cathedral would take at least a couple of years and require major funding.

DESS official says state should not govern the Church

A DESS official called for cooperation between the state and the Church for the benefit of citizens.

Poltava court upholds mobilization of Protestant pastor

A court in the Poltava region ruled that a prior criminal conviction and religious beliefs do not exempt a person from military service.