Once adopted, Draft Law No. 8371 will effectively ban the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine immediately. At the same time, Ukrainian religious organizations suspected of cooperating with the Russian Orthodox Church will have nine months to sever all ties with Moscow.
This was stated by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, RBC-Ukraine reports with reference to national telethon.
“The Russian Church in Ukraine will be banned. This is a clear provision laid down in Article 3 of the bill,” Stefanchuk said.
At the same time, religious organizations suspected of any affiliation or cooperation with the Russian Orthodox Church will be audited.
“It is the experts who deal with these issues who will say whether there are signs of affiliation,” the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada emphasized.
If these signs are present, a motion will be submitted to terminate the activities of such organizations. However, such decisions can be challenged in court.
According to Stefanchuk, new legislation aims to ensure constitutional order from the point of view of religious relations, as well as to prevent the unjust persecution and provide churches willing to distance themselves from Moscow with an opportunity to do so in line with canon law.
As the Rada speaker noted, religious organizations will be granted a certain period during which they should take a number of steps that will prove they no longer have an affiliation or connection with the Russian Orthodox Church. Then the question of whether or not to terminate their operations will be resolved.
