DESS expert: Everyone, not just parishioners, can decide UOC churches' fate

Liudmyla Fylypovych. Photo: "Vikna-novyny"

Religious scholar, expert of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), and Doctor of Philosophy Liudmyla Fylypovych, speaking on the air of "5 Channel", assured that the residents of the city can influence the confessional affiliation of churches.

The conversation was prompted by the situation in Cherkasy, where Mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko stated that two churches remain under the influence of the UOC due to “the community’s shortcomings”. The program’s host expressed puzzlement: “What role is the community supposed to play? I don’t quite understand. This is a city community: should it be some initiative from the city council, or is this primarily a church matter?"

Answering this question, Fylypovych emphasized that the decision on the fate of UOC churches should be made not only by the church community but also by all residents living in the area.

"I think the community is not only church-related. After all, the Church is not separate from society. If you have a parish, you are in a city, you have a church, you in some way influence the residents around that church," Filipovich explained.

According to her, it should be a collective decision with public hearings. "The community can influence, and it does if it does not want the Church that does not meet their expectations or long-term plans, to be present on their lands," Fylypovych added.

According to her, if the Church belongs to the UOC, it has no place in Ukraine. "If you are a Russian church, then you have no place in Ukraine. You have a vast territory - the Russian Federation," she stated.

As a reminder, according to Article 8 of the Law of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations," there are formulations that completely contradict Fylypovych's statements. In particular, it states that only its members can participate in the meeting on changing the confessional affiliation of a religious community.

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