Member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Irina Gerashchenko said that this week the Ukrainian parliament will consider a bill on the ban of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
According to Irina Gerashchenko, this week on the agenda in the Verkhovna Rada will be put on the bill number 8371, which involves the ban of the canonical UOC. The parliamentarian noted that all factions in the Ukrainian Parliament supported this initiative, only some representatives from the parties “Servant of the people” and “Opposition Platform – For Life” opposed.
“At the conciliation Council it was decided that this plenary week the government bill on the Church No. 8371 will be put on the agenda. All factions, except for the “Servants of the people” and OPFL (“Opposition Platform – For Life” – ed.), supported the proposal of “European Solidarity” that the Parliament will consider the parliamentary bill № 8221 on the ban of the Moscow church (UOC – ed.). But the ‘Servants’ and OPFL were categorically opposed,” Gerashchenko wrote in Telegram-channel.
People’s Deputy of Ukraine emphasised that the bill submitted and proposed by the government for discussion is much weaker. However, according to the text of the explanatory note to the document, everything looks completely different.
Bill No. 8371, which was submitted by the government of Ukraine to the Parliament, suggests the possibility of “preventing the activity in Ukraine of religious organisations, the governing centre (management – ed.) of which is located outside Ukraine in the state that carries out armed aggression against Ukraine”.
Earlier, the World Council of Churches (WCC) appealed to the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, not to ban the activity of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) without serious evidence that it violates the country’s national security.
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