Kiev, November 8, 2023
Photo: spzh.news
A Kiev appeals court upheld the legality of the Ukrainian state’s attempts to forcefully rename the Ukrainian Orthodox Church last week.
On November 2, the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal ruled to dismiss the appeal of the canonical UOC and to uphold the decision of the Kiev District Administrative Court of May 15 that declared the legality of the Ministry of Culture’s actions aimed at forcibly renaming diocesan structures, monasteries, and parishes, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists, with reference to the court website.
The Ministry of Culture’s aim is to rename the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as the “Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine”—a pretext for outright banning the Church on a federal level.
Recall that Ukraine takes another step towards banning the Church—declares UOC is still part of Moscow PatriarchateThe Ukrainian state has taken another serious step towards banning the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
“>in January, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience declared that the UOC remains part of the Moscow Patriarchate, despite the UOC’s own decision to depart from the Moscow Patriarchate the previous May, as reflected in the Ukrainian Church statutes no longer have any connection to Russian Church, state official confirms“In an official letter, Metropolitan Onuphry clearly indicated that the UOC is no longer governed by the decision of the Bishops’ Council of the ROC, and officially announced its disassociation from the Moscow Patriarchate,” Elena Bogdan said.”>UOC’s new statutes. Ukrainian Parliament votes for bill to ban UOC in first reading, second reading still to comeMany local administrations have declared bans on the Church, though at the same time, the Church’s activities have continued in those localities.”>And last month, Verkhovna Rada deputies voted 267-15 in favor of a bill that would ban any religious organization centered in Russia (the bill awaits a second reading before it can pass into law).
Although it has been legally registered as the “Ukrainian Orthodox Church” for 30 years, there have been attempts at least Fight breaks out after Ukrainian Parliament votes to force Ukrainian Church to change its name as pretext to church seizuresThe debate over the government’s interference in Church life led to a massive fight in the parliamentary hall.
“>since 2018 under President Poroshenko to forcibly rename the UOC as the “Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine,” although these attempts had been repeatedly blocked by Ukrainian courts.
The matter was halted by the Ukrainian Supreme Court in Supreme Court halts forced renaming of canonical Ukrainian ChurchThe Supreme Court of Ukraine has rejected the Ministry of Culture’s appeal to force the canonical Ukrainian Church to rename itself as the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, thus allowing it to retain the name it has been registered under for 30 years.
“>December 2019, but Ukraine: Constitutional Court accepts bill to forcibly rename UOCIt is well known that renaming the Church is simply laying the foundation to seize churches and outright ban the Ukrainian Church, which has come under increased pressure and persecution from the state in recent months.”>in late December, the Constitutional Court ruled that the bill calling for the forced renaming of churches or religious organizations associated with organizations in Russia is in line with the state constitution. The case was resumed again Court resumes case on forcibly renaming the Ukrainian Orthodox ChurchUkrainian authorities hope to forcibly rename the UOC as the “Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine” in order to then ban the Church on the national level.”>in May of this year, with courts twice now upholding the legality of the forced renaming.
According to the latest court writing, the UOC can be recognized as part of the Russian Church if any of the following is true:
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UOC statutes contain indications of belonging to the ROC
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ROC statutes contain indications that the UOC is part of its structure
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ROC statutes contain indications that UOC hierarchs are part of its structure
In its examination, the court relied on pre-May 2022 UOC statutes, which are no longer legally valid, and the ROC statutes to make its declaration against the Church.
The appeal court’s decision states that it can be further appealed to the Supreme Court within 30 days.
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