DESS prepares lawsuit to ban Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC, - Yelensky
The head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), Viktor Yelensky, announced that his agency is preparing a lawsuit to terminate the registration of the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The official stated that the DESS is thus responding to the UOC’s statement refusing to comply with the state’s requirements set forth in anti-church law No. 3894. Yelensky announced this on Radio Liberty.
According to Yelensky:
- The Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC must ensure the implementation of the decisions of the governing bodies of the UOC on the UOC’s withdrawal from the Moscow Patriarchate;
- The Metropolitan of Kyiv must ensure the implementation of the decisions of the governing bodies of the UOC that the latest statute of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was voted for by the bishops of the UOC, is not valid for the UOC;
- The Metropolitan of Kyiv had to express his disagreement with his appointment by the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church;
- The governing bodies of the UOC had to declare that they do not recognize the annexation of their dioceses in eastern Ukraine and Crimea by the Russian Orthodox Church.
He stressed that the implementation of these points did not require the UOC to “betray Christ or betray Orthodoxy,” but only to legally confirm its independence from Moscow. At the same time, according to Yelensky, the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC officially announced that it would not comply with the order, and therefore the next step would be a lawsuit.
Earlier, the head of the Synodal Information and Education Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Clement (Vecheria), stressed the need to comply with the provisions of the UOC Statute in order to understand whether the Church is dependent on any religious centers abroad. The hierarch considers the statements of the head of the DESS, Viktor Yelensky, who “does not believe” that the UOC has no ties with the Moscow Patriarchate, to be manipulative.
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