VR Committee recommends that Parliament support the UOC-banning law

UOC believers stand in prayer at the Verkhovna Rada. Photo: Union of Orthodox Journalists

The Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy of the Verkhovna Rada has approved draft law No. 8221 authored by MP Mykola Kniazhytsky, titled "A Draft Law on Ensuring National Security in the Sphere of Freedom of Conscience and the Activities of Religious Organizations." This was reported by the deputy head of the committee and the deputy leader of the parliamentary faction "Servant of the People," Yevhenia Kravchuk, in a comment to Ukrinform.

The document proposes the prohibition of the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) on the territory of Ukraine, religious organizations that are directly part of another religious organization, enter the structure of the ROC, and religious centers recognizing subordination to the ROC in canonical, organizational, and other matters.

Furthermore, the draft law specifies that all transactions related to the use of property (rent, lease, leasing, etc.) with an unexpired term, concluded between residents of Ukraine and the corresponding prohibited foreign religious organization, as well as with legal entities of which it is the owner, participant, or shareholder, are terminated prematurely.

Additionally, the draft law suggests defining the naming specifics of religious organizations. It allows a religious organization to use the words "Orthodox" in masculine / feminine gender in its name (both in full and abbreviated forms) only if that religious organization is subject to the OCU in canonical and organizational matters.

As previously reported by the UOJ, MP Mykola Kniazhytsky, the initiator of anti-church laws, expressed frustration with the difficulties he faces in his work, as the UOC defends itself by appealing to international law.

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