“It is better to have an imperfect law that can be improved than to have no law at all” - Epiphany about the ban of the UOC

During his speech at the tenth closed meeting of the LB.ua Club, the head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko, spoke about the need for a legislative ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Dumenko is convinced that despite the imperfections of Bill No. 8371, it is better that it be adopted in the near future, and only then will it be finalized. The words of the head of the OCU are published by LB.ua.

“There are disputes over the details (of Bill No. 8371 – ed.). But our position is that it is better to have an imperfect law that can be improved in the future than to have no law at all. And what needs to be improved can be improved through further amendments to the existing law. If such a law threatened religious freedom, then religious associations, which in the past suffered a lot from the authorities – both tsarist and Soviet – would not be silent. And so it was: a number of proposals of deputies were not supported by the religious community precisely because they could be used against the principles of religious freedom,” – Dumenko reflects.

The head of the OCU added that not only all religious denominations of Ukraine, but also representatives of the UOC itself, against which this law is directed, insist on the adoption of Bill No. 8371. In his opinion, the clergy and believers of the UOC “hope that at least the state law will free them from the slavery of Moscow.”

“Therefore, having virtually consensus support from the religious leaders of Ukraine, based on an understanding of the depth and danger of the challenges that the law must counteract, realizing that the issue is not only ripe but also long overdue, we ask that everything possible be done to close the gap in the defense through which the ‘Russian world’ pours poison into the souls of Ukrainians. This, by the way, is expected, strange as it may sound, among the MPs in Ukraine. Because the clergy and faithful see that they cannot convince Metropolitan Onufriy and other leaders and cannot influence them in any way. Therefore, they hope that at least the state law will free them from the slavery of Moscow,” – Dumenko concluded.

Earlier, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor of the Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Lyudmyla Fylypovych stated that it is inadmissible to adopt Bill No. 8371, aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Filipovych is convinced that in this matter, parliamentarians should listen to the opinion of international experts who criticized this law in its approved form.