MP: Only court can prove that the denomination is governed from Moscow

Eugenia Kravchuk at the "service" of the OCU in the Lavra’s Dormition Cathedral. Photo: "Channel 5"

The deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada Commission for Information and Humanitarian Policy, MP Eugenia Kravchuk, has told the Rada press service that the adopted bill 8371 envisages a court hearing, where the court must prove that this or that denomination is governed by an aggressor country. She said the involvement of the judicial procedure is particularly important because "other options would not go through the European Court of Human Rights".

"It must be proved that a religious organisation has a connection with the aggressor country, that it is managed from the aggressor country while giving an opportunity to break this connection," Kravchuk said.

According to her, "if the religious organisation refuses (to break ties – Ed.), a lawsuit is sent to court, and after the relevant decision, the activity of the religious organisation is terminated."

"The Moscow Patriarchate has the opportunity to actually renounce this canonical connection, and then everything will be fine," Kravchuk said, without specifying why she uses the phrase "Moscow Patriarchate" in her rhetoric if it is not used in any state documents of Ukraine.

The MP said that parliamentarians have 14 days to submit amendments to be considered by a specially set working group. According to her, the Rada is planning a meeting with the participation of the AUCCRO.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that according to philosopher Andriy Baumeister, the UOC ban is not even an error but a domestic policy failure.

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