Ukrainian lawmakers have passed a bill envisaging a ban on the Russia-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which Kyiv has cast as complicit in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The bill, adopted by Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday, aims to ban the Russian Orthodox Church on Ukrainian territory and to set up a commission which will assemble a list of organizations “affiliated” with the Russian church.
The list is expected to target the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
A total of 265 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, with 29 against, parliamentarian Yaroslav Zhelezniak said on Telegram.
Meanwhile, lawmaker Roman Lozynskyi said on Facebook: “Today we have embarked on the inevitable path of cleansing from within the Kremlin's agent network, which has been hiding behind the mask of a religious organization for decades.”
Most of the Ukrainian population are Orthodox Christians who belong to the Eastern Orthodoxy, but the faith is split into two different branches. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine is under the Istanbul patriarch, while the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is linked to the Russian Orthodox Church, is under the Moscow patriarch.
The second of the two organizations claims that since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it has cut ties with its Russian parent church, which is an open supporter of Vladimir Putin’s war. However, it is still canonically linked to Russia.
Ukrainian security services have reported that over 100 clergy members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have been under criminal investigation and almost 50 of them have been charged over connections with the Kremlin.
The legislation passed on Tuesday still needs a signature from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Lawmaker Zhelezniak has said that if the bill becomes law, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will be given nine months to sever its links with the Russian church.
If it fails to do so, the church will be banned in Ukraine, according to CNE, a Christian news website.
The list is expected to target the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
A total of 265 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, with 29 against, parliamentarian Yaroslav Zhelezniak said on Telegram.
Meanwhile, lawmaker Roman Lozynskyi said on Facebook: “Today we have embarked on the inevitable path of cleansing from within the Kremlin's agent network, which has been hiding behind the mask of a religious organization for decades.”
Most of the Ukrainian population are Orthodox Christians who belong to the Eastern Orthodoxy, but the faith is split into two different branches. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine is under the Istanbul patriarch, while the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is linked to the Russian Orthodox Church, is under the Moscow patriarch.
The second of the two organizations claims that since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it has cut ties with its Russian parent church, which is an open supporter of Vladimir Putin’s war. However, it is still canonically linked to Russia.
Ukrainian security services have reported that over 100 clergy members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have been under criminal investigation and almost 50 of them have been charged over connections with the Kremlin.
The legislation passed on Tuesday still needs a signature from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Lawmaker Zhelezniak has said that if the bill becomes law, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will be given nine months to sever its links with the Russian church.
If it fails to do so, the church will be banned in Ukraine, according to CNE, a Christian news website.
Source: Reuters, Kyiv Independent, The Guardian, CNE
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