Verkhovna Rada prepares to pass four more anti-church laws

The Verkhovna Rada. Photo: kyiv-city.com

The MP of the "European Solidarity" faction Volodymyr Viatrovych reported on Facebook that at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy on December 30, 2022, the Parliament was recommended to adopt several more bills "to protect national security in the religious field”.

It is bill 8262, which simplifies the procedure for the transition of the Orthodox communities to the subordination of the OCU and provides for the cessation of the use of state and communal property by the UOC.

Also, they are draft decree No 8012, which provides for the Verkhovna Rada’s appeal to the government to resolve the issue of the transfer of the Kyiv-Pechersk and Pochaiv Lavras’ facilities to the OCU, bill No 7403, which would deprive the UOC of the non-profit organization status and tax benefits and bill No 8217, which provides training of military chaplains in military educational institutions and the military faculties of universities.

As reported, in 2020, Volodymyr Viatrovych, an MP of the “European Solidarity” parliamentary faction, called for taking away the Kyiv-Pechersk and Pochaiv Lavras from the UOC.

Read also

WCC Demands 'Protection' for St. Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai

The WCC also passed resolutions on the Armenian Genocide and the terrorist attack on Mar Elias Church in Damascus.

Russian Orthodox Church Provides Aid to Earthquake Victims

Volunteers from the Petropavlovsk and Kamchatka Diocese are providing food and aid at the Holy Trinity Cathedral’s humanitarian warehouse to support residents affected by a powerful 8.7-magnitude earthquake in Kamchatka.

Serbian Patriarch Slams 'Undemocratic' Ruling Against Republika Srpska Leader

Patrarch Porfirije condemned the verdict as "unlawful and undemocratic." He is a vocal supporter of autonomy for Bosnian Serbs.

UOC House Church Set Ablaze in Khmelnytskyi Region

Police have identified the arsonist.

World's Most Premature Baby Celebrates First Birthday

Iowa NICU defies “impossible” odds to save boy born at 21 weeks.

Court Extends Detention of Metropolitan Arseny by Two Months — Again

Defense Prepares Appeal as Legal Irregularities Surround Continued Imprisonment of UOC Hierarch