Expert: UOC needs to defend its rights in the international arena

Expert Yuri Molchanov. Photo: screenshot of the 112 Ukraine Youtube channel
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church must fight anti-church laws in the international arena, journalist Yuri Molchanov believes.
“The adoption of laws that infringe on the rights of believers entitles the UOC to use the entire arsenal of legal levers, including in the international arena. And this is what we lack now," said the expert in the studio of the First Cossack channel.
According to the journalist, the campaign to collect signatures made it clear to the President that the problem is urgent, but after Lent the UOC needs to activate its supporters.
“When the situation with the COVID-19 epidemic calms down, we need to hold a religious procession to show the ‘living’ number of believers,” Molchanov emphasized. "It is a big mistake for the authorities to think that one can fight against the Church and that She will not answer."
Earlier, Molchanov said that people will be ready to come to the President's Office in person "in behalf of faith in God" if the authorities fail to hear them.
Read also
Culture Ministry pledges to speed up seizure of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra from UOC
Culture Minister Tetiana Berezhna has pledged to personally attend a court hearing in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra case.
Kyiv conscription officers abduct UOC priest
TRC officers reportedly abducted Maksym Kostiuchenko, a cleric of a UOC church in the Ukrainian capital.
Court grants DESS lawsuit to dissolve UOC’s Rovenky Eparchy
The appeals court partially granted the DESS lawsuit seeking to dissolve the Rovenky Eparchy but rejected the request to seize its property, citing a gap in Ukrainian legislation.
Met. Meletiy consecrates house of worship for UOC community in Dankivtsi
Members of the persecuted UOC Intercession parish in Dankivtsi have converted a house into a place for communal prayer and worship services.
OCU eparchy sells church center site to developer for housing
The OCU’s Volyn Eparchy sold land intended for a spiritual center to a private developer planning to build townhouses and residential buildings.
SBU names UOC priest’s wife a suspect in Cherkasy region
The SBU accused Matushka Kateryna Prykotenko of “spreading enemy propaganda” through correspondence with parishioners.