President Vladimir Zelensky called on Constantinople to grant the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (OCU) patriarchal status, Strana.ua reported.
The politician made this request at a meeting with the ambassadors of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, who visited Kiev at the end of August, the publication notes. Zelensky also noted that citizens of the republic would react to such a development of events with understanding.
“The exarchs (heads of individual church districts – socialbites.ca) accepted the information and will pass it on to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and hold consultations,” the Ukrainian president told reporters on September 20.
He added that church representatives have a “vision of an action plan” and should come back with specific proposals after discussing the initiative with Patriarch Bartholomew.
Zelensky at the end of August signed the lawIts purpose is to ban the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and its “affiliated” organizations in the country. Officially, the document is called “On the protection of the constitutional order in the sphere of activities of religious organizations.” The president signed it on Ukraine’s Independence Day. In honor of the holiday, he posted a video message on his channel, in which he announced the fight against the “Moscow devils.”
There are two main Orthodox organizations in Ukraine: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (OCU). Russian Orthodoxy considers the former canonical, the latter schismatic. Accordingly, Kiev, on the contrary, supports the OCU. Since the beginning of the full-scale military conflict in Ukraine, persecution of the UOC has begun (violent seizure of churches and monasteries, including with the support of the security forces, arson and vandalism of churches, searches and detentions of priests).
But the new law does not say anything directly about the ban on the UOC. The bulk of the document is devoted to banning “foreign religious organizations” rather than domestic ones. Of these, only the Russian Orthodox Church is directly mentioned. It is banned in Ukraine because it is an “ideological continuation” of the Russian authorities and an “accomplice” to war crimes.
Previously, police in Ukraine accused Rector of UOC temple “praised Putin.”
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Source: Gazeta
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.