UOC Legal Department comments on the statement of OCU "Synod"

Head of the Legal Department of the UOC, Archpriest Alexander Bakhov. Photo: fraza.com

The head of the Legal Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Archpriest Alexander Bakhov, commented on the statement of the Synod of the OCU and Epiphany Dumenko dated February 2, 2021, demanding to counteract possible repeal of the law on the forced renaming of the UOC.

“As it turns out, the OCU Synod believes that millions of Ukrainian citizens belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are aggressors, so any legal decision of the court in their favor is corrupt until they change their name or recognize the Tomos and stick to it!” wrote the head of the Legal Department of the UOC on his Facebook page.

The priest noted that "all the time he believed that the Church should follow Christ, rather than a tomos!"

In addition, he recalled, in the Tomos, which the "Synod" of the OCU called for the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church to follow, there is not a single mention of it, but "only the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and Holy Church of Ukraine."

As the UOJ reported, on February 2, the "Synod" of the OCU published a statement on the situation around Law No. 2662-VIII of December 20, 2018, which obliges the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church to change its name. Expressing "serious concern" about possible repeal of the law, the OCU said that it was about corruption involvement and called on "the state and international partners of Ukraine to pay attention to these potential threats and prevent their implementation."

Recall that while the scandalous law on the forced renaming of religious organizations, including the UOC, is being considered in the Constitutional Court, its norms have been duplicated in the law on the "transition period" for Donbass. 

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