Ukrainian Parliament Moves To Outlaw Orthodox Church for ‘Russia Links’

[Michie]

International groups and critics have called it an attack on religious freedom.

After months of government pressure on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which has been accused of everything from supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine to spying for Russian forces, the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, has taken its first steps toward outlawing the denomination entirely.

A bill to outlaw the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was presented this week, winning the support of 267 Ukrainian MPs and passing its first reading. The bill, according to the Guardian, will require a second reading and approval from President Volodymyr Zelensky to come into law.

The bill will allow the Zelensky government to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church if it is decided that the church has institutional links to the Russian Orthodox Church, something the UOC denies.

Iryna Herashchenko, an MP for the European Solidarity party, commented on the vote on Telegram, saying:

The parliament took the first step towards the liquidation of the FSB sect. To be honest, the voted government bill is weak, [and] the procedure for conducting an examination prescribed there makes it impossible to quickly ban the [Russian Orthodox Church].
But we will correct it before the second reading. Otherwise, the law will be ritualistic, not working. With obscenities, shouts, and emotions, the deputies voted in the first reading to ban the church of the aggressor country in Ukraine.

She later claimed that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church owns 2,876 buildings and 3,800 plots of land within Ukraine and questioned why the church is not subject to the same sanctions as Russian businesses, stating:

Continued below.

Ukrainian Parliament Moves To Outlaw Orthodox Church for ‘Russia Links’

International groups and critics have called it an attack on religious freedom.

europeanconservative.com

 

[prodromos]

Is this the Ukraine you stand by, Michie?

 

[Michie]

Is this the Ukraine you stand by, Michie?

I don’t agree with that but I certainly do not stand with Putin’s Russia.

 

[prodromos]

I don’t agree with that

Well that's a problem when the text under your avatar publicly states your support.

but I certainly do not stand with Putin’s Russia.

I don't have "I stand with Russia" under my avatar for a reason.

 

[Michie]

Well that's a problem when the text under your avatar publicly states your support.

I don't have "I stand with Russia" under my avatar for a reason.

There are a lot of things that happen in war that’s not black and white. Ukraine was attacked unprovoked. There is no reason for it except for whatever is in Putin’s deranged mind. It’s just like Israel and Gaza. I feel badly for civilians on both sides. But I stand with Israel. You don’t have to agree. But I’m not ashamed of what and who I stand with.

 

[prodromos]

Ukraine was attacked unprovoked

I'm afraid that is an incredibly ignorant position to take. I don't support Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but I completely understand why they felt they had to.

 

[Michie]

I'm afraid that is an incredibly ignorant position to take. I don't support Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but I completely understand why they felt they had to.

Well are you here to talk about the op or my tag supporting Ukraine? Your opinion of my ignorance is really a nonissue with me. I would assume you’d feel the same. War is hell.

 

[Michie]

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has continued to harbor significant resentment against Independent Ukraine, the country it still thinks of as a critical part of 'Mother Russia'. It therefore considers the conquest of Ukraine as being vital for the restoration of its so-called “Historical Russia”.

 

[Michie]

Remarks by President Biden on Russia's Unprovoked and Unjustified Attack on Ukraine | The White House

East Room 1:43 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Sorry to keep you waiting. Good afternoon. The Russian military has begun a brutal assault on the people of Ukraine without provocation, without justification, without necessity. This is a premeditated attack. Vladimir Putin has been planning this for...

www.whitehouse.gov

 

[prodromos]

I'm speechless that you would offer a statement from your current government as a reputable source.

 

[Michie]

I'm speechless that you would offer a statement from your current government as a reputable source.

*shrug* I’m not going to waste time arguing with someone over the internet about who I support. I make up my own mind. It just seems like you are spoiling for a fight. I’m not playing into it.

 

[The Liturgist]

My beloved friends @Michie and @prodromos , i understand where you both are coming from, since we all agree that the persecution of the UOC is wrong and @Michie doesn’t support it, while neither of you support Putin either, surely we can all be friends on this issue? I have no doubt we are all three of us praying for the people of Ukraine and the Russian people as well, since they are the victims of a fratricide.

By the way is Ukraine a member of the Council of Europe? Because if so this action is probably a violation of the European Charter of Human Rights and could be litigated in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Note the Council of Europe is not the same as the European Union or the European Council, which is something like an upper house to the European Parliament, with the European Commission being the executive and the European Parliament being the populated elected legislature. The Council of Europe rather consists of the signatories to the European Charter of Human Rights and until last year Russia was a member but the membership of Belarus was suspended due to it being the only European country with capital punishment. I am pretty sure Ukraine is a member which means they have to abide by the ECHR, although some parts of the ECHR can be “derrogated” in times of war, but I don’t think that would apply here, but of course I am not a European civil rights lawyer.

 

[Michie]

My beloved friends @Michie and @prodromos , i understand where you both are coming from, since we all agree that the persecution of the UOC is wrong and @Michie doesn’t support it, while neither of you support Putin either, surely we can all be friends on this issue? I have no doubt we are all three of us praying for the people of Ukraine and the Russian people as well, since they are the victims of a fratricide.

By the way is Ukraine a member of the Council of Europe? Because if so this action is probably a violation of the European Charter of Human Rights and could be litigated in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Note the Council of Europe is not the same as the European Union or the European Council, which is something like an upper house to the European Parliament, with the European Commission being the executive and the European Parliament being the populated elected legislature. The Council of Europe rather consists of the signatories to the European Charter of Human Rights and until last year Russia was a member but the membership of Belarus was suspended due to it being the only European country with capital punishment. I am pretty sure Ukraine is a member which means they have to abide by the ECHR, although some parts of the ECHR can be “derrogated” in times of war, but I don’t think that would apply here, but of course I am not a European civil rights lawyer.

No worries on my end. I’ve always enjoyed @prodromos and his contributions. Disagreement does not equal an enemy in my book. But I won’t be made to feel ashamed of whom I support. These problems like we see in the op would not be an issue if Putin could control himself in his megalomaniacal mind. I pray for all the innocents and casualties of war. Nobody in their right mind wants war but every country has a right to defend themselves from those that attack them without so much as a notice.

 

[prodromos]

*shrug* I’m not going to waste time arguing with someone over the internet about who I support. I make up my own mind. It just seems like you are spoiling for a fight. I’m not playing into it.

I apologise Michie. It just upsets me that there is so much going on that the mainstream media simply won't report on, and I see good people like yourself simply repeating the narrative.
I support Ukrainians, I do not support Ukraine. I support Russians, I do not support Russia. I support Palestinians, and Israelis, I do not support Hammas or Israel.

 

[Michie]

I apologise Michie. It just upsets me that there is so much going on that the mainstream media simply won't report on, and I see good people like yourself simply repeating the narrative.
I support Ukrainians, I do not support Ukraine. I support Russians, I do not support Russia. I support Palestinians, and Israelis, I do not support Hammas or Israel.

I’m sorry I upset you. Sincerely.

 

[Michie]

Ukraine Parliament Advances Bill Seen to Ban Russia-Linked Orthodox Church From Country

Some Ukrainian lawmakers have accused the UOC of promoting the interests of the Russian government since before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

www.ncregister.com