On the importance of legal resistance

The UOC has finally, after years of bullying, lies and boorishness, filed a complaint against former President Petro Poroshenko! Previously, we have repeatedly written in a questioning tone about why no one on behalf of the Church tries to sue those who openly incite religious hatred. However, we must give credit to the archpriest and lawyer of the UOC Nikita Chekman, because it is he who has become the icebreaker that moves these “icebergs” from their place.

Someone may say that all these lawsuits and statements are futile, but this would be an incorrect statement. Yes, as of today, the judicial system, which should be completely independent of political influence, is constrained by fear and circumstances. Yes! No decisions will be made in favor of the UOC today, at best – they will postpone the courts indefinitely. But at some point this has to stop, right? At some point the state judicial system must be restored?

And when this happens, the Church must be ready! The UOC will have to flood the courts with applications so that except for cases on the protection and restoration of the rights of the clergy and believers of the UOC, the Ukrainian courts would not do anything else! And if this does not happen in Ukraine, then these applications will go further – to the ECHR and anywhere else.

And these are not some impossible dreams! We know for sure that no one in the Church is trying to do this. We know of isolated cases when diocesan offices sue local authorities for certain crimes against freedom of conscience, which are accumulating more and more. And the cases when the Kyiv Metropolitanate defends the interests of the Church in some high-profile cases are so rare that you are more likely to see a unicorn somewhere in the Carpathian forest.

So, we need to work in this direction. This direction, so far, is the weakest, but very promising. All these “fighters in the UOC” must be brought to justice. Now or even in the distant future.