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| Metropolitan Clement: The decision to ban the UOC contradicts the Constitution of Ukraine |
| 2024-08-21 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] The decision of the Kiev regime to ban the activities of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) in Ukraine contradicts the country's constitution, said the head of the information and educational department of the UOC, Metropolitan Clement. This was reported on August 20 by the Ukrainian publication "Strana.ua". He recalled that the Verkhovna Rada's legal department had previously established that the bill banning the church was inconsistent with several fundamental articles of the Ukrainian Basic Law, ratified by Kiev in international treaties. “If millions of believing Ukrainian citizens knew that the current parliament would ban churches, then, obviously, a completely different composition would have been formed in the elections,” the priest added. As reported by the Regnum news agency, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the bill on banning the UOC in its final reading. 265 deputies voted for it. The law will come into force 30 days after its publication. The head of the Synodal Department of the Russian Orthodox Church for Relations with Society and the Media, Vladimir Legoida, said that the ban on the UOC in Ukraine would lead to mass violence in the country. He also called this decision a gross violation of the ideas of freedom of conscience and human rights in relation to millions of believers. The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, commenting on the decision of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations to support the bill banning the UOC, called those who support this initiative Satanists. More from regnum.ru Russian Orthodox Church commented on the law banning the UOC The law on the de facto ban of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) tramples on internationally recognized norms in the field of protecting religious freedom. This was stated on August 20 by Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, adviser to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill. “The law adopted by the Rada tramples on internationally recognized norms in the area of protecting religious freedom and provides the opportunity for further, broader expansion of anti-church persecution by the Kiev regime,” he said. The Patriarch’s advisor added that the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church will assess “this act of persecution of canonical Orthodoxy in Ukraine.” As reported by the Regnum news agency, on August 20, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the final reading a bill banning the canonical UOC. The law was supported by 265 deputies with 226 votes required, it will come into force 30 days after its publication. The Administrator of the Chancery of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, Archpriest Seraphim Gan, stated that the ROCOR deeply sympathizes with the Ukrainian believers in connection with the adoption of this law. He wished them to be strong "in standing for the truth." On August 17, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called those who supported the ban on the UOC in Ukraine Satanists. Regnum IA observer Vladislav Sovin noted that only a victory by Russia can save Orthodoxy in Ukraine in the current situation. In his opinion, the globalist machine is interested in destroying the UOC, striving to sever all ties, including spiritual ones, between Russia and Ukraine. Even more from regnum.ru Human Rights Council called on spiritual leaders and human rights activists not to allow the ban of the UOC The HRC Standing Committee on International Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights addressed the spiritual leaders of the world, representatives of traditional religious confessions, international human rights organizations and called on them not to allow the ban of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). This was reported on August 20 by Marina Akhmedova, a member of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation and editor-in-chief of Regnum News Agency. “We called on them to raise their voices to prevent the destruction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which, of course, is not a Muscovite church, but a self-governing church with rights of broad autonomy within the Russian Orthodox Church,” Akhmedova wrote on her Telegram channel. According to her, Ukraine has been preparing the ground for the ban on the UOC for so long that now it surprises no one and is happening as an ordinary event - quietly and unnoticed. However, this is all very serious and should not be surrounded by silence, the editor-in-chief of the news agency emphasized. Akhmedova also pointed to the silence of religious and human rights international organizations. The member of the Human Rights Council recalled that people in Ukraine were thrown out of the bosom of their church and lost the right to freedom of religion. The statement of the Human Rights Council was supported by the presidential adviser and Chairman of the Human Rights Council, Valery Fadeev. “We hope that spiritual leaders will not ignore our appeal and will do everything possible to ensure that the right of UOC parishioners to freedom of religion in their churches and with their spiritual pastors remains inviolable,” follows from a statement published on the HRC Telegram channel. It also notes that members of the commission on international cooperation in the field of human rights have repeatedly drawn the attention of international human rights activists to the repressions to which the UOC is subjected. The commission also recalled that we are talking about the ban on the largest religious organization in Ukraine and the deprivation of millions of its parishioners of the opportunity to be in the bosom of their canonical church. As reported by the Regnum news agency, on August 20, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the final reading a bill banning the canonical UOC. It was supported by 265 deputies with 226 votes required. The law will come into force 30 days after its publication. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the adoption in Ukraine of a law banning the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church is evidence of Kiev’s deliberate destruction of Christianity in violation of the country’s constitution. Advisor to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill, Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, stated that the law adopted in Ukraine tramples on internationally recognized norms in the area of protecting religious freedom. Political scientist and HSE professor Marat Bashirov, in a conversation with the Regnum news agency, called the actions of Ukrainian politicians a political mess. |
| Posted by:badanov |