DESS expert says Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC will have 30 days to sever ties with the ROC

Vyacheslav Gorshkov, head of the Department for Interaction with Religious Communities of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, said that after the official announcement by the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church about signs of affiliation with the Moscow Patriarchate, the UOC will have 30 days to sever all ties with the ROC. He said this in a comment to the publication “Suspilne.”

“We must send this organization a prescription to eliminate these signs. The deadline for fulfilling the prescription, if necessary, may be more than a month. If the religious organization decides to comply with the order, then the matter will be closed and the state will have no further claims against it. If it does not comply, our service will refer the matter to the court, which may decide, for example, to terminate the activities of such a legal entity. An order is currently being prepared for the UOC’s Holy Synod with a proposal to eliminate the identified signs. When the UOC CM receives it, it will have 30 days to comply. If this is not enough, the deadline can be extended for another 60 days. If the order is complied with and this is supported by the entire UOC, then there will be no questions from the state,” – commented Vyacheslav Gorshkov.

Recall that earlier, the head of the State Historical and Architectural Reserve “Ancient Kiev” (part of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, ed.) Roman Malenkov stated that in the near future, the “reserve” will begin work on the expropriation of the Pokrovsky and Florovsky monasteries of the UOC, as well as the Holy Cross and Ilyinsky churches, which are architectural monuments. Malenkov claims that it will be possible to take these religious buildings away from the Church thanks to a decision by the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, which “found” signs of the UOC’s affiliation with the Moscow Patriarchate.