The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Tuesday passed in final reading a law allowing to ban the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak said.
The law was supported by 265 MPs and will come into force 30 days after its publication. But the whole process of banning the UOC will begin only in 9 months – in March 2025. Zheleznyak wrote on social networks:
“The UOC will have nine months to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).”
All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations on August 17 supported a bill to ban the canonical UOC. Members of the All-Ukrainian Council declared their support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s course of “spiritual independence, defence of the constitutional order, public security, human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
Meanwhile, the UN, HR Watch and other human rights organisations do not comment in any way on the ban on the multimillion church in Ukraine.
How the new law will work
The new law imposes restrictions on Ukrainian religious organisations’ ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. The bill reportedly spells out the criteria for such ties. If ties with the Russian Orthodox Church are established, a religious organisation has nine months to break them.
Uniate Ruslan Stefanchuk explained what will happen to those who “do not correct themselves.” He said:
“We give a certain period of nine months to determine to take measures to move away from Moscow. If it does not do this – this organisation will be banned in Ukraine, it cannot be a religious organisation.”
The bill passed its first reading in October 2023. Last year, several regions of Ukraine independently banned the UOC from operating on their territory, and UOC monasteries were searched. Earlier, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) criticized the draft law on banning Russian-affiliated religious organisations. The OHCHR believes that actions against the UOC may be discriminatory.
