“To leave the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church is now not enough": MP Poturaev told about the demands to the episcopate of the UOC in connection with the anti-church law

Ukrainian MP and head of the Committee for Humanitarian and Information Policy Nikita Poturaev has spoken about the requirements that the state sets before the episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in connection with the adoption of the anti-church bill No 8371 in the Verkhovna Rada. Poturaev claims that the withdrawal of the Primate and bishops of the UOC from the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church is an insufficient measure to fulfill the norms of the mentioned law. He said in an interview with the Ukrinform publication.

“If they have the desire and will, they take it and do it. Everything. That is, unlike the Latvian law, which simply obliged the church to declare autocephaly, we do nothing of the sort. We tell them: here are the criteria, if you meet them, then you are not part of the ROC. And here is what you can do in accordance with these criteria. This is completely within your zone of control,” — the deputy said.

Poturaev added that the UOC bishops will not fulfill the norms of the anti-church law even when they leave the Synod of the ROC. In his opinion, in the UOC should take a whole set of measures that will be approved by documentation.

“There is a separate article in the law that defines affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church. It is absolutely not enough that they withdraw from the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, this is not a first row requirement at all. They must do a set of actions that will prove, including through documentation, that they are no longer part of the Russian Orthodox Church, and if Onufry leaves the synod and everything else remains unchanged, it will not change anything,” — he said.