Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, announced on the air of a telethon that according to draft law No. 8371, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) will be immediately banned in Ukraine. The move is part of a broader initiative to ensure constitutional order in the state from the point of view of religious relations and national security.
According to Stefanchuk, the law provides for a clear provision on the prohibition of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, which is contained in the third article of the document. However, the law also gives Ukrainian religious organizations suspected of collaborating with Moscow a nine-month period to sever those ties. At this time, examinations will be conducted to determine whether there are signs of affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church.
"If signs of cooperation with the Russian Orthodox Church are revealed, such an organization will be threatened with termination of its activities. However, this decision can be challenged in court," Stefanchuk noted.
He stressed that the process of severing ties with Moscow will be carefully monitored to ensure justice and protection of the constitutional rights of religious organizations that want to separate from the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Ukrainian Council of Churches supported the ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UPC MP), which until now had ties to the Russian Orthodox Church. According to Stefanchuk, all steps are spelled out in the law to prevent unjust persecution of religious organizations, giving them the opportunity to secede from Moscow in accordance with canon law.
According to the new draft law, several stages of implementation are foreseen: about a month for the law to enter into force, three months for the government to develop a regulatory framework, and nine months for the implementation of decisions. If the organizations do not sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church during this time, they may be recognized as having ceased their activities in a court of law.
