The law is not aimed at destroying the UOC, - Viktor Yelensky

The head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, Viktor Yelensky, stated that the activities of the institution he heads are not aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. At the same time, if the UOC does not comply with the state’s requirements, the Church will be deprived of its registration and property. He spoke about this on Ukrainian Radio.

«This is not a struggle, this is enforcement of the law. On the one hand, we are talking about dismantling the structures of the Moscow Patriarchate, and on the other hand, there are faithful people, most of whom are virtuous, from whom the state’s demands are being concealed and to whom the state will provide every opportunity to satisfy their religious needs. The law contains the concept of “affiliated with affiliates.” This is the second level of affiliation. We are talking about diocesan administrations, monasteries, and spiritual educational institutions, which will also be forced to decide whether they will be part of the Russian Church or leave it. The law is absolutely proportional to its purpose. It does not provide for or aim to destroy the UOC, as our opponents like to say. It is aimed solely at ensuring that the church is not part of the Russian Church,» — Yelensky said.

Despite these statements, the head of the DESS noted that the state will ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, after which the UOC will be deprived of its property, and the Church itself will be deprived of its rights. According to him, this is due to the fact that the UOC does not want to engage in “dialogue with the state.”

«If the court satisfies the DESS’s claim, then the Kyiv Metropolis will lose its legal entity status. At the same time, since it has been declared affiliated even before the court, we are obliged to send letters notifying the State Property Fund, regional state administrations, the Ministry of Culture, and other interested bodies that own property that can be used by the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. And then the agreements on the use of this property must be terminated. I must comply with the law. The order does not impose a burden on the conscience of believers, does not push them into conflict with their own conscience, but failure to comply with it pushes them into conflict with the state and Ukrainian society. If any individual or legal entity owns property, it remains in their possession. But if a legal entity is liquidated, it ceases to use the property. If, for example, a group of people who call themselves one way or another want to gather somewhere to satisfy their religious needs, we are not North Korea, and no one will interfere with that. Likewise, no one will persecute believers who gather to express their religious feelings. We are talking about dismantling the structures of the Moscow Patriarchate that do not want to leave this Moscow Patriarchate,» — he said.

We will remind you that recently, the head of the Synodal Information and Education Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Clement (Vecheria), commented on information that appeared in the media that the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience is going to sue the Church in order to terminate the registration of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC. The UOC spokesman considers such a move by the DESS to be a “deliberate provocation” aimed at exacerbating social contradictions in society.