Verkhovna Rada registers a bill to ban the UOC

Bill No. 7204 dated March 22, 2022 “On the prohibition of the Moscow Patriarchate on the territory of Ukraine” was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada.

The corresponding notice was published on the website of the Verkhovna Rada.

The author of the bill is Oksana Savchuk, Verkhovna Rada deputy from the Svoboda party, who is the only MP representing the party in the current convocation of the Verkhovna Rada. She was elected to the Rada in the majority district in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.

The report on the passage phase of the bill through the parliament says that the document was received and “submitted for consideration by the leadership” of the Rada.

The text of the bill has not been published on the website of the Verkhovna Rada, the content of the document is unknown.

Oleg Veres, a representative of the Svoboda party, commented on this bill on his Facebook page.

According to him, the bill mainly aims “to ban the activities of the Moscow Patriarchate, i.e. the Russian Orthodox Church and all religious organizations that are part of it.

Secondly, to nationalize all church property of the Russian Orthodox Church and religious organizations that are part of it in Ukraine (within 48 hours from the date of adoption of this law).

Thirdly, religious communities, monasteries and theological educational institutions of the Moscow Patriarchate should be given an opportunity to change their jurisdiction (within 14 days from the date this law comes into force),” he wrote.

“Svoboda has repeatedly proposed such bills since 2005. They were continually dismissed. I hope that now, given the situation, the bill will be adopted. This is a matter of our national security,” Veres added.

As previously reported by the UOJ, the authorities in Transcarpathia demanded to ban the UOC.

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