Zoria assures Americans that banning UOC is protection of religious freedom

Zoria substantiates banning the UOC as an expression of religious freedom. Photo: Zoria’s Facebook

At the Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, OCU spokesperson Yevstratiy Zoria assured that the Ukrainian state had justifiably banned the UOC. He posted his report on his Facebook page.

The majority of Zoria's report was dedicated to criticizing the Moscow Patriarchate and drawing parallels between the ideology of the "Russian World" and Nazism.

Building on these arguments, he justified the support of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) for a law banning the UOC, which he described as a "law prohibiting Moscow-based centers from having administrative influence on religious life in Ukraine."

He assured the audience that "80% of those surveyed in Ukraine support" the ban on the UOC.

"Therefore, together with everyone who seeks to protect freedom – not just use the rhetoric of freedom to help destroy it – we will work to ensure that religious freedom is protected. Including protection from such an aggressive Kremlin institution as the Moscow Patriarchate," Zoria stated. However, he did not explain how the "Kremlin institution" operates through the UOC.

To recall, Yevstratiy Zoria previously complained that UOC communities were obstructing the transfer of their churches to the OCU.

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