Dumenko: We voted in AUCCRO, and everyone is in favor of banning the UOC

Epifaniy Dumenko. Photo: screenshot of the YouTube channel “Voice of America Ukrainian”

The head of the OCU, Epifaniy Dumenko, told Myroslava Gongadze whether there are religious organizations in Ukraine that are against the law banning the UOC.

Epifaniy Dumenko, the head of the OCU, told Voice of America that all members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations support the ban on the UOC.

In an interview with Voice of America, Dumenko, in response to Gongadze's question about "active discussions" regarding the bill on "regulating the Orthodox Church" in Ukraine, stated that "the parliament already reflects the deliberations taking place in Ukrainian society."

According to the head of the OCU, Ukrainian society "wants to see a real unified Ukrainian Church."

"Unfortunately, there are religious organizations that still maintain institutional ties with the aggressor country. Therefore, a bill has been passed in the first reading by the VR that would ban religious organizations from having ties with the aggressor country," Epifaniy explained.

He told Gongadze that during a recent meeting of members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations with the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, the question arose, "Are there any religious organizations that oppose such a law?"

Dumenko stated that a "vote" was held, and all AUCCRO members "unanimously supported this decision, that a law is needed to regulate this situation so that the aggressor country does not use religious organizations as a weapon for its purposes."

"The state is doing everything to protect its spiritual space because, as we can see, the enemy is quite successfully using the religious dimension and religious organizations for its purposes in this hybrid war," the head of the structure actively supported by the U.S. State Department emphasized.

As reported by the UOJ, representatives of the UOC were not allowed into the Cabinet of Ministers during a meeting of AUCCRO members.

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