Ukraine Major Archbishop says new law against Russian Church is not unjust

A new law in Ukraine banning the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is meant to prevent the militarization of religion in the country, according to the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

Ukraine’s parliament adopted Law 8371 on Tuesday prohibiting the activities of the ROC in Ukraine and banning the activities of religious structures affiliated with Moscow.

Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 and launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia’s war has been strongly supported by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.

In March, Kirill oversaw a council that declared Russia’s invasion a “holy war” in defiance of the region’s “single spiritual space,” and said Russia is protecting the world from “globalism and the victory of the West that has fallen into Satanism.”

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine and members of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations supported the bill on Saturday, adding religious freedoms are safe in Ukraine even during the war.

“The Moscow Patriarchate justifies pogroms and restrictions on religious freedom, torture and murders of priests and pastors, and cynically tramples on God’s instructions and basic norms of universal morality,” the council said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the new law as being about “our spiritual independence.”

“This is what we have been talking about with members of the Council of Churches and Religious Organizations. And in the coming days I will talk about it with representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew [based in Istanbul]. We will continue to strengthen our Ukraine, our society,” Zelenskiy said in a video statement.

The Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Russia has used the Orthodoxy under its control “as a tool of militarization, turning it into a neurotropic weapon.”

Speaking to German official Lisa Geike, Shevchuk said another aspect of the new law is creating protection against the ideology of the “Russian peace” which involves the ideology of the “Russian world.”

The major archbishop emphasized that although the law should protect religious freedom from manipulation, “it is important to monitor how it will be implemented in practice.”

Criminal proceedings have been made against over 100 priests of the UOC for war-related crimes, the Security Service of Ukraine said on Tuesday.

Bishop Metropolitan Klyment of the UOC said the church in Ukraine is independent of Moscow and called the new law unjust.

“The UOC is independent and self-governing in its administration,” he said.

“It is not subordinated to any centers within Ukraine, that is, to any centers other than the Kyiv Metropolis. And certainly not to any center outside of Ukraine, whether it is in a country that is called the aggressor state or in any other country,” the bishop added.

Heorhiy Kovalenko, a representative of the OCU who switched from the Moscow Patriarchate in 2019, told the Kyiv Post the law does not ban any specific church, but only restricts the activities of Ukrainian religious organizations if they continue cooperating with the Russian state.

“Finally, the state has the political will to ensure that religion is not used as a tool for political propaganda and aggression,” he said.

“Religious communities should be focused on religion. The law refers to ‘affiliated’ organizations. The authorized state body conducts an examination and issues an order requesting that the organization cease cooperation with Russia. If they refuse, legal action and the suspension of the organization’s activities may follow. But if the organization severs ties with Russia, it can continue functioning,” Kovalenko told the Kyiv Post.