DESS on mobilization exemptions for priests: UOC will face problems

Vyacheslav Horshkov. Photo: Religion in Ukraine

The head of the Department for Religious Affairs of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), Vyacheslav Horshkov, explained that with the introduction of a new regulation on reserving clergy from mobilization, the UOC may face issues securing deferrals, reports Religion in Ukraine.

Horshkov pointed out that the complications stem from technical issues linked to the requirements of Ukrainian Law No. 2662-VIII of December 20, 2018. This law mandates clarification of the names of churches whose governing centers are located in an aggressor country. According to this law, the UOC's charters have lost validity regarding their name.

The DESS official noted that due to this, the service cannot identify such religious organizations, leaving them significantly restricted in their operations. For example, they cannot update the Unified State Register of Enterprises and Organizations of Ukraine (EDRPOU) to reflect leadership changes.

"The UOC faces a purely legal dilemma here: normalizing its legal identity to submit lists of priests for mobilization exemption is only possible by complying with Law No. 2662-VIII, which automatically implies recognizing its affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). The only way out of this deadlock is to complete all necessary procedures and sever ties with the ROC. Otherwise, the UOC risks losing registered communities and the ability to secure mobilization exemptions for its priests," the publication stated.

Horshkov emphasized that the only solution for the UOC is to complete the required procedures and genuinely break ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.

As the UOJ reported earlier, MP Dubinsky stated that only UOC clergy who transfer to the OCU would be granted mobilization deferrals.

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