Publicist: The law banning the UOC reeks of hydrogen sulfide

Tetiana Dekach. Photo: Screenshot of the Viche YouTube channel production

According to religious publicist Tetiana Derkach, who supports the OCU in the media space, the law on the de-affiliation of religious organizations is deeply flawed. Speaking on the YouTube channel Viche, she sharply criticized the bill, saying that “every article of it reeks of hydrogen sulfide and garlic.”

In her view, Law No. 3894 is the product of a long-accumulated sense of political revenge among certain Members of Parliament. “When you open it up – and forgive me for being blunt – almost every article stinks of hydrogen sulfide and garlic. All the emotions of the MPs who invested themselves in this law, all that revengeism and resentment built up over the years, it just bursts out from every clause,” Derkach noted.

She was particularly critical of the state's attempts to interfere in internal church matters. The Ukrainian government, she said, is effectively demanding canonical changes from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), despite having no constitutional authority to do so under the principle of separation of church and state.

“The state views the Church not as a sacred organism but as a set of religious organizations –  more akin to civil associations. It tries to impose on them regulatory mechanisms that would be applied to ordinary NGOs. But that doesn’t work with the Church,” Derkach emphasized.

She highlighted a fundamental issue: if there is a church crisis, canonical mechanisms –  not government tools – must be used. “What the state is demanding from the UOC are essentially canonical changes. But it has neither the right to demand them, nor the authority to enforce them,” she stated.

Derkach, who has nearly 20 years of experience working with legislation, noted that Law No. 3894 introduces harmful amendments to Ukraine’s Law on Freedom of Conscience – a law long regarded as one of the most liberal in Europe.

“The changes introduced by Law 3894 are nothing short of a black, black, black hole – a stain on that law,” the expert declared, adding that many international human rights organizations also have serious concerns about the legislation.

As a result of this approach, she said, the UOC “has dug in and is standing its ground,” and the situation has devolved into a “cacophony,” where believers are being dehumanized, despite being “just as human as anyone else, even in wartime conditions.”

Earlier, the UOJ reported that religious scholar Liudmyla Fylypovych also criticized government plans to ban UOC services.

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