DESS expert on plans to ban UOC services: “This cannot be tolerated”

Liudmyla Fylypovych. Photo: screenshot from YouTube channel “Novyi Vidlik”

Religious studies scholar and DESS expert Liudmyla Fylypovych commented on MP Mykyta Poturaev’s recent statement during a broadcast on the YouTube channel Viche, where he mentioned plans to ban Ukrainian Orthodox Church communities from conducting services even in churches on private property. He added that believers could use their sanctuaries for things like vegetable storage or casinos instead.

When asked by the host how she viewed such statements, Fylypovych responded, “With protest.”

“How else should we respond? This cannot be tolerated. And since we consider ourselves responsible citizens, we will stand up for people’s rights and freedoms,” she stated.

She emphasized that some Ukrainians have a misguided tendency to regard Members of Parliament “as deities,” while in fact, “they are just people – and sometimes even more foolish and irresponsible than ordinary citizens.”

Fylypovych criticized the law aimed at banning the UOC, stating that the authorities are “resorting to any means just to intimidate the Church, to somehow push forward this process of ‘transfers’ – they no longer know what else to try.”

She added that Poturaev is not even the worst case, noting that Parliament includes “even more radical and far-right figures who tried to implant their revanchist ideas into this law.”

Earlier, the UOJ reported that according to Poturaev, once the UOC is banned, its churches could be turned into casinos if believers so choose.

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