Ivano-Frankivsk regional council urges Rada to "return UOC Lavras to people"
On September 16, 2022, immediately after the beginning of the 16th session of the Ivano-Frankivsk regional council, at the initiative of the deputy from the All-Ukrainian Union “Svoboda” Maria Rudyk the deputies adopted an appeal to the President, the Verkhovna Rada and the Security Service of Ukraine to ban the UOC, reports Blitz-Info.
In the appeal, the deputies said that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church "as part of the Russian Orthodox Church is practically the last outpost to support the aggressor state" and that the activity of the UOC has "openly anti-state and anti-Ukrainian character".
Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Council deputies demanded that the Verkhovna Rada:
- adopt a Ukrainian law banning the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church;
- initiate an investigation into the activities of the UOC, which is directed "against the foundations of Ukraine's national security, and bring those responsible to criminal responsibility";
- "return to the Ukrainian people such Ukrainian religious shrines as the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra and the Holy Dormition Sviatogorsk Lavra".
"The activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church undermine the territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of Ukraine and are aimed at supporting the genocide of the Ukrainian people. An anti-Ukrainian structure of a hostile country cannot exist on the territory of Ukraine, and even more so during the war," the text of the appeal reads.
As reported, members of the Volyn Regional Council appealed to the Parliament to ban the UOC.
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