Earlier, the odious head of the Volyn Diocese of the OCU, Mikhail Zinkevich, spoke about which churches and monasteries he would be able to take away from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Volyn thanks to Law No. 8371 adopted by the Verkhovna Rada. According to Zinkevich, the state will transfer one of the cathedrals and several monasteries, which are architectural monuments, to the ownership of the Volyn Diocese of the OCU.
Religious scholar: Not only parishes but also monasteries of UOC can now be transferred to OCU
The new anti-church law No. 3894 (formerly No. 8371) is written in such a way that it simplifies the procedure for “transferring” religious organizations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to the OCU. Thanks to this law, not only ordinary communities but also monasteries of the UOC will now be able to transfer to the OCU. Andriy Smirnov, a lobbyist of the OCU and a freelance expert of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, said this in an interview with the publication “Texty”.
“There are no problems in order to transfer, because there is an appropriate legal framework, and the new law even simplifies these procedures. In addition, if earlier monasteries were not able to change their canonical jurisdiction, now even they can move to the OCU by making a decision at their general meeting. However, there are some unfavorable factors that affect the transition,” — Smirnov said.
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