““The time of those who sanctify terror is over.” Zelenskyi said that the authorities will not cooperate with representatives of the UOC MP November 19, 18:28 Share: President Volodymyr Zelenskyi during a press conference with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Kyiv, November 19, 2024 (Photo: REUTERS/Alina Smutko ) President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Tuesday, November 19, that the policy regarding churches and religious organizations will be worked out in the annexes to the sustainability plan. About this”, — write on: ua.news
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a press conference with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Kyiv, November 19, 2024 (Photo: REUTERS/Alina Smutko)
On Tuesday, November 19, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that the policy regarding churches and religious organizations will be developed in the annexes to the sustainability plan.
He stated this during the presentation of the internal stability plan of Ukraine in the Verkhovna Rada, the President’s Office reports on Facebook.
According to Zelenskyi, the authorities will continue to cooperate with all religious organizations, with the exception of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Zelenskyi also believes that the government should continue to develop the partnership between the state and the church. As an example, he named the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations.
“Within this dialogue, we can determine which models of greater cooperation are capable of strengthening our state and all our people, our spiritual independence, and our social work in the Ukrainian state. Of course, we are not talking about the Moscow church. The time of those who sanctify terror is over,” the Ukrainian president said.
On October 15, the results of a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology showed that 80% of Ukrainians support the law banning religious organizations associated with Russia. Only 16% of respondents oppose the ban.
The Law on Prohibition of the UOC MP
On August 10, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, announced the preparation of a decision that would strengthen Ukrainian spiritual independence. On August 16, the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy recommended that the Verkhovna Rada adopt a draft law in the second reading that prohibits the activities of religious organizations affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
On August 17, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations supported a legislative initiative to ban the UOC MP in Ukraine.
On August 20, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a draft law as a whole on the prohibition of the activities of religious organizations connected to the Russian Federation, in particular the UOC MP, on the territory of Ukraine.
According to it, the communities of the UOC MP will have 9 months to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.
After that, the head of the information and educational department of the UOC (MP) Metropolitan Kliment told hromadske that his church does not have an MP prefix.
“The Ukrainian Orthodox Church will continue to live as a true church, recognized by the vast majority of practicing Ukrainian believers and local churches of the world. This is an objective thing. Any attempts to ban an objective thing will only lead to discredit, including international discredit, of those who want to implement it somehow,” the metropolitan said.
On August 24, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi signed the law banning the UOC-MP.