https://sputnikglobe.com/20230120/kiev-seeks-to-ban-ukrainian-orthodox-church-as-part-of-religious-crackdown-1106526197.html
Kiev Seeks to Ban Ukrainian Orthodox Church as Part of Religious Crackdown
Kiev Seeks to Ban Ukrainian Orthodox Church as Part of Religious Crackdown
Sputnik International
The Kiev authorities seek to ban the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
2023-01-20T14:51+0000
2023-01-20T14:51+0000
2023-01-20T14:51+0000
ukraine
russia
volodymyr zelensky
ukrainian orthodox church (uoc)
ukrainian orthodox church of the moscow patriarchate head onufriy
patriarch kirill
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The government of Ukraine has submitted to parliament a law prepared on orders of President Volodymyr Zelensky that aims to ban the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The ban is to go into force if the Ukrainian authorities determine that the UOC is affiliated with Russia, stated a message posted on the website of the parliament, or Verkhovna Rada. Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal initiated the bill, the message added.Representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada, Taras Melnychuk, said on his Telegram channel that the proposed bill provides for amendments to the current legislation, which "make it impossible for religious organizations to operate in Ukraine if their governing center is located outside Ukraine, in a state that exercises armed aggression against Ukraine" (which is a very obvious hint, since the Kiev authorities officially refer to Russia as an "aggressor country").According to Melnychuk, the ban would ostensibly ensure "spiritual independence, preventing the split in society on religious grounds, lead to consolidation of Ukrainian society and the protection of national interests."'War on Orthodox Christianity'Over 70 percent of Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians. Another 8 percent of the population consists of Catholics and Protestants, with Islam and Judaism accounting for a combined one percent, and about 20 percent describing themselves as unaffiliated Christians.Attempts to drive a wedge between Orthodox Christians in Ukraine were undertaken in the 1990s. Following Ukraine's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union on August 24, 1991, several groups of clergy, supported from abroad, announced a bid to establish an Orthodox Church separate from Russia, proclaiming Metropolitan Filaret as patriarch of Kiev. The Russian Orthodox Church denounced the organization as schismatic, and Filaret was subsequently defrocked by the Russian Orthodox Church in July 1992. However, he went on to create yet another separate "Ukrainian church."In 2018, tensions spiraled further. In a political move targeted to initiate a further split within Ukrainian Orthodoxy, the government of then-President Petro Poroshenko announced the creation of a so-called independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). The Russian Orthodox Church has refused to recognize the results of the unification council and Constantinople's decision to grant autocephaly to the new Ukrainian church, insisting that Constantinople legalized schism.The Kiev authorities have since then been promoting the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which in 2019 was granted "autocephaly" or independence by the Patriarch of Constantinople.Against the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing special military operation in Ukraine, first launched on February 24, 2022, the Kiev regime has been increasingly ramping up its campaign targeting canonical Orthodox Christianity. Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia earlier revealed that Moscow was aware of Kiev's intention to do away with the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on January 17, called at the Russian envoy's request, he underscored that priests of the so-called independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine at their divine services do not shy away from hate-filled rhetoric, urging "the liberation of shrines from Russian captivity." Nebenzia added that Russia remembers full well what deadly and tragic events such calls for “purification” have led to earlier in human history.The envoy also recalled that on January 7, 2023, the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and the Freedom of Conscience called the existence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church an "anomaly," while Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk announced a new draft law against the UOC to decide "what we should do with a religious organization that poses a threat to the national security of Ukraine."After the Russian ambassador to the United Nations decried the fact that Ukraine was a step away from the worst inter-confessional conflict in the history of Europe, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ilze Brands Kehris also expressed the organization's concerns."We are concerned that two draft laws recently taken by the Parliament - draft law 8221 and draft law number 8262 - could undermine the right of religion or belief as enshrined in article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," Kehris told the UN Security Council on January 17.Back in November and December 2022, the Ukrainian Security Service conducted searches in the places of worship of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and the authorities criminally charged at least three clerics. In early December, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he wanted a law that would “make it impossible for religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence in the Russian Federation to operate in Ukraine,” in a reference to the UOC.Weighing in on what has been happening in Ukraine, the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' and Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill on December 22, 2022, castigated the "streams of slander against the church, against the patriarch, against bishops and clergy" that were targeting brethren in faith outside Russia. This was being carried out, he stated, "through propaganda in the media, through the statements of statesmen and public figures, through the statements of false brothers who themselves have already found themselves in captivity. ideas and interests alien to our faith.” He condemned the direct persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the forcible seizures of churches in Ukraine, beatings inflicted on clergy and laity, threats to their lives, mass searches, and "counterintelligence measures" in diocesan administrations, churches, and monastic cloisters, as well as the initiation of criminal cases and calls for a complete ban on the activities of the UOC in the country.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20221123/ukrainian-security-forces-storm-historic-orthodox-church-in-counterintelligence-raid-1104566584.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20190107/ukraine-church-russia-patriarch-1071272266.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20220329/bill-banning-activities-of-russian-orthodox-church-submitted-to-ukrainian-parliament-1094303169.html
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kiev regime, to ban ukrainian orthodox church, canonical orthodox church, uoc, affiliated with russia, ukrainian security service conducted searches in uoc places of worship, what is ukrainian church, are ukrainians orthodox, are ukrainians christians
kiev regime, to ban ukrainian orthodox church, canonical orthodox church, uoc, affiliated with russia, ukrainian security service conducted searches in uoc places of worship, what is ukrainian church, are ukrainians orthodox, are ukrainians christians
Kiev Seeks to Ban Ukrainian Orthodox Church as Part of Religious Crackdown
Earlier, Russian Envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia denounced the persecution of Orthodox Christianity by Ukrainian authorities, and the Kiev regime's repressive actions against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
The government of Ukraine has submitted to parliament a law prepared on orders of
President Volodymyr Zelensky that aims to ban the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The ban is to go into force if the Ukrainian authorities determine that the UOC is affiliated with Russia, stated a message posted on the website of the parliament, or Verkhovna Rada. Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal initiated the bill, the message added.
Representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada, Taras Melnychuk, said on his Telegram channel that the proposed bill provides for amendments to the current legislation, which "make it impossible for religious organizations to operate in Ukraine if their governing center is located outside Ukraine, in a state that exercises armed aggression against Ukraine" (which is a very obvious hint, since the Kiev authorities officially refer to Russia as an "aggressor country").
23 November 2022, 03:26 GMT
According to Melnychuk, the ban would ostensibly ensure "spiritual independence, preventing the split in society on religious grounds, lead to consolidation of Ukrainian society and the protection of national interests."
'War on Orthodox Christianity'
Over 70 percent of Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians. Another 8 percent of the population consists of Catholics and Protestants, with Islam and Judaism accounting for a combined one percent, and about 20 percent describing themselves as unaffiliated Christians.
Attempts to drive a wedge between Orthodox Christians in Ukraine were undertaken in the 1990s. Following Ukraine's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union on August 24, 1991, several groups of clergy, supported from abroad, announced a bid to establish an Orthodox Church separate from Russia, proclaiming Metropolitan Filaret as patriarch of Kiev. The Russian Orthodox Church denounced the organization as schismatic, and Filaret was subsequently defrocked by the Russian Orthodox Church in July 1992. However, he went on to create yet another separate "Ukrainian church."
In 2018, tensions spiraled further. In a political move targeted to initiate a further split within Ukrainian Orthodoxy, the government of then-President Petro Poroshenko announced the creation of a so-called independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). The Russian Orthodox Church has refused to recognize the results of the unification council and Constantinople's decision to grant autocephaly to the new Ukrainian church, insisting that Constantinople legalized schism.
The Kiev authorities have since then been promoting the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which in 2019 was granted "autocephaly" or independence by the Patriarch of Constantinople.
7 January 2019, 10:55 GMT
Against the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing
special military operation in Ukraine, first launched on February 24, 2022, the Kiev regime has been increasingly ramping up its campaign targeting canonical Orthodox Christianity.
Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia earlier revealed that Moscow was aware of Kiev's intention to do away with the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on January 17, called at the Russian envoy's request, he underscored that priests of the so-called independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine at their divine services do not shy away from hate-filled rhetoric, urging "the liberation of shrines from Russian captivity." Nebenzia added that Russia remembers full well what deadly and tragic events such calls for “purification” have led to earlier in human history.
The envoy also recalled that on January 7, 2023, the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and the Freedom of Conscience called the existence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church an "anomaly," while Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk announced a new draft law against the UOC to decide "what we should do with a religious organization that poses a threat to the national security of Ukraine."
After the Russian ambassador to the United Nations decried the fact that Ukraine was a step away from the worst inter-confessional conflict in the history of Europe, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ilze Brands Kehris
also expressed the organization's concerns.
"We are concerned that two draft laws recently taken by the Parliament - draft law 8221 and draft law number 8262 - could undermine the right of religion or belief as enshrined in article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," Kehris told the UN Security Council on January 17.
Back in November and December 2022, the Ukrainian Security Service conducted searches in the places of worship of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and the authorities criminally charged at least three clerics. In early December, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he wanted a law that would “make it impossible for religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence in the Russian Federation to operate in Ukraine,” in a reference to the UOC.
Weighing in on what has been happening in Ukraine, the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' and Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill on December 22, 2022, castigated the "streams of slander against the church, against the patriarch, against bishops and clergy" that were targeting brethren in faith outside Russia. This was being carried out, he stated, "through propaganda in the media, through the statements of statesmen and public figures, through the statements of false brothers who themselves have already found themselves in captivity. ideas and interests alien to our faith.”
He condemned the direct persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the forcible seizures of churches in Ukraine, beatings inflicted on clergy and laity, threats to their lives, mass searches, and "counterintelligence measures" in diocesan administrations, churches, and monastic cloisters, as well as the initiation of criminal cases and calls for a complete ban on the activities of the UOC in the country.
