Ukraine passes law to ban Russia-linked church

Ukrainian lawmakers on Tuesday passed a law banning the activities of a Russia-affiliated branch of the Orthodox Church, marking a significant break with an institution Kyiv has accused of aiding Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

According to a report on Reuters, while the majority of Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians, the faith is divided between two main branches: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), historically tied to the Russian Orthodox Church, and the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine, recognized by the global Orthodox hierarchy since 2019.

Ukrainian leaders have long accused the Moscow-linked UOC of supporting Russia’s 30-month-old war on Ukraine by spreading pro-Russian propaganda and harboring spies. The newly passed bill, supported by 265 lawmakers, bans the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine and calls for a government commission to identify and prohibit affiliated organizations. The UOC is expected to be the primary target.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the vote as a move to bolster Ukraine's "spiritual independence." Lawmaker Iryna Herashchenko echoed this sentiment, calling the legislation a matter of national security. “This is a historic vote,” she wrote on Telegram. “Parliament has approved legislation to ban a branch of the aggressor country in Ukraine.”

The UOC, which began distancing itself from Moscow after Russia’s February 2022 invasion, has faced accusations from Ukrainian officials, who have launched criminal investigations and treason charges against several of its clerics. At least one cleric was sent to Russia in a prisoner exchange.

Metropolitan Klyment of the UOC reiterated that the church has no ties to "foreign centers" and criticized the legislation as an attack on church property and those who support the bill. “The Ukrainian Orthodox Church will continue to live as a true church, recognized by the vast majority of practicing Ukrainian believers and churches worldwide,” he told Hromadske TV.

Recent opinion polls indicate that approximately 82% of Ukrainians do not trust the UOC, while only about 8% express trust in the church. Lawmakers noted that the process of banning the UOC could be lengthy and complex, as each Orthodox parish operates as an independent entity. Parishes will have nine months to decide whether to disaffiliate from the UOC, after which legal actions could be initiated to enforce the ban.

“Today, we have taken a crucial step toward purging Ukraine of the Kremlin's agent network, which has been disguised as a religious organization for decades,” lawmaker Roman Lozynskyi stated on Facebook.

[Information sourced from Reuters]