Ukrainian parliament bans Russia-linked church

The Ukrainian parliament has approved a law banning the activities of religious organizations linked to Russia within Ukraine, following a second reading, according to MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak.

The document titled “On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Religious Organizations” gained the support of some 265 MPs. The purpose of the legislative initiative is to protect national and public security. The text of the law emphasizes that no provision should be interpreted as a restriction on religious freedom or beliefs within the country.

“Considering that the Russian Orthodox Church is an ideological extension of the regime of the aggressor state, an accomplice to war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on behalf of the Russian Federation and the ‘Russkiy Mir’ ideology, the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine are banned,” the text plainly states.

The State Service of Ukraine on Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) will determine which organizations in Ukraine have connections to the Russia-centered church. These organizations will get nine months to cease cooperating with Moscow. Otherwise, the relevant service will file a lawsuit to force them to terminate their activities.

DESS had already concluded that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) is among those religious organizations connected with Russia. The approved law still needs to be signed by the President of Ukraine.

Predating these latest developments, the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) had released an official statement supporting a ban on pro-Russian religious organizations in Ukraine, to include the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.