Religious Front: UOC-MP Banned in Lviv District

On the territory of the Lviv region, the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate were banned. The corresponding decision was made by a majority of votes in the Lviv District Council, about which reported Deputy Lviv District Council Marta Ilchishin.

According to the decision, the parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate remaining in the territory of the Lviv region were given 14 days to transfer to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). This was done at the initiative of the VO "Svoboda" faction.

Also Lviv deputies requested to the Verkhovna Rada with a demand to ban the activities of the UOC-MP throughout Ukraine.

“The activities of the Moscow Patriarchate for many years undermined the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and today openly supports the genocide of the Ukrainian nation and poses a direct threat to the existence of Ukraine. That is why its continued existence and activity in Ukraine is unacceptable.”, – wrote Ilchishin.

Decisions of local councils are illegal

The activities of the UOC-MP during the war already suspended decisions of the Boryspil City Council, in Brovary, Konotop, Drohobych and in other settlements.

Head of the Department of Religions and Nationalities of the Department of Culture, Nationalities and Religions of the Lviv OVA Vasily Dorosh voiced viewthat the religious organizations of Ukraine, including the UOC-MP, in accordance with the current legislation, can be liquidated or reorganized only on the parish's own initiative or by a court decisionif their activity was recognized as illegal by the SBU, and Only the Verkhovna Rada can ban the activities of the church on the territory of Ukraine.

According to him, the regional administration or local self-government bodies cannot interfere in the activities of religious organizations if they do not violate the norms of the law, and local communities generally do not have the authority to prohibit the activities of religious organizations on their territory. Therefore, according to him, parishes can challenge such decisions in court.

Glad to ban the UOC-MP in the war will not

In Ukraine, developed bill, suggesting a ban on the activities of the UOC-MP on the territory of Ukraine, initiated by a deputy from the VO "Svoboda" Oksana Savchuk. Also, the bill proposed transferring the Kiev-Pechersk, Pochaev and Svyatogorsk Lavra to the ownership of the state, and religious communities are invited to change their subordination within two weeks - similar to how it was proposed to do in the Lviv District Council.

In response to such a legislative initiative, the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk saidthat the Parliament will not ban the activities of the UOC-MP, since during the war, deputies do not have the right to adopt any law that would split Ukrainian society. As a result, the bill, filed at the end of March, remained under consideration, the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada did not provide conclusions on it, and local councils decided to take decisions on the ban on the church on an individual basis. The central government does not react in any way to such initiatives.

Recall that on May 27 at the Council of the UOC-MP officially announced separation from the Moscow Patriarchate and voiced disagreement with the position Patriarch Kirill regarding the war in Ukraine. That is, de jure, the church is no longer part of the Moscow Patriarchate. That, however, does not affect the further ban on the activities of the church by local councils.

Previously, we wrote that Since the beginning of the war, more than a hundred churches have been destroyed in Ukraineand talked about draft law, which they want to oblige the UOC-MP to pay taxes.

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