Kniazhytsky: Unfortunately, the deputies did not support the proposal to introduce a reference to the Tomos into the law

An MP of the European Solidarity party, Mykola Knyazhytskyy, has said that there are finally «shifts» in the case of «banning the Russian church in Ukraine». About it he wrote on his own page in Facebook.

«We have long worked on this document, persistently discussed each amendment, invited to cooperation of representatives of churches and the State service for ethno-politics to make the Law effective», — he said.

Knyazhitsky noted that in the bill, agreed by the specialized committee, «the Russian Orthodox Church is directly prohibited by law.» According to him, the restrictions also include «religious organizations that are affiliated with the ROC. And this applies to all levels of the structure — not only the UOC-MP, but also other organizations that are part of the structure of the UOC-MP».

In addition, the document «defines what is the ‘ideology of the Russian world'» and establishes «the possibility for sanctions against religious organizations that promote it.»

«Unfortunately, deputies and officials did not support our proposal to introduce a reference to the Tomos into the law and allow any outside organizations to be called ‘Orthodox’ without the consent of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. But given the resistance this initiative faces, the wording adopted by the committee provides effective tools to combat the use of religious cover to wage war against Ukraine», — Knyazhytskyy said.

We will remind, earlier we wrote that the Chairman of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy Nikita Poturaev in a comment for RBC-Ukraine said that the bill 8371 can not be interpreted as exactly «limiting the activities» of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.