UCCRO supports Zelensky's legislative initiative against UOC

Meeting of the UCCRO with Zelensky on August 16, 2024. Photo: screenshot from video t.me/dmytruk_info

On August 17, 2024, the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) published a statement on its official website following a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky. While not directly naming it, UCCRO clearly indicated its support for Zelensky's legislative initiative to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), likely referring to Bill No. 8371.

The organization reported that on August 16, they met with President Zelensky "during which we discussed protection of freedom of religion and spiritual independence of Ukraine, protection of constitutional order and public security, human rights and fundamental freedoms in the context of abuse by the aggressor country". Following the meeting, UCCRO members reiterated points they had reportedly made on multiple occasions before.

"We reiterate our statement of 11 April 2023 that partnerships and freedom of religion and their protection by the state are the basis of church-state relations in Ukraine, and no organisation – whether religious or secular – that has its centre in a country that has committed military aggression against our people and is governed by the aggressor state can operate in Ukraine," the statement reads.

The members of the organization further emphasized their support "for the legislative initiative of the President of Ukraine to make it impossible for such organisations to operate in our country."

To reinforce their position, the country's religious leaders cited the purported "broad political and public support" for the law, which effectively bans a multi-million-member denomination in Ukraine.

Commenting on the President's meeting with UCCRO members, Member of Parliament Artem Dmytruk remarked, "It is very bold, constructive, and quite genuine to hold meetings with the Council of Churches without the largest denomination in Ukraine, the UOC. Yet, no meeting can matter more than meeting with God – in prayer, in attending churches, in defending our Orthodoxy!"

As reported by the UOJ, President Zelensky previously stated that he had held a meeting with members of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations and thanked them for supporting the course toward "spiritual independence".

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