“Didn't you want to pray in basements?” - OCU lobbyist on the ban on the UOC

The scandalous religious scholar, DESS expert, and OCU lobbyist Yuriy Chornomorets stated that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is itself to blame for falling under a complete ban. Chornomorets called on the clergy and believers of the UOC to become “normal Ukrainians” so as not to lose their rights to real estate and other state privileges. He made this statement on NV.

“The fact is that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, in unity with the Moscow Patriarchate, uses approximately three thousand historical buildings, cultural monuments, etc. And according to this specialized law (No. 3894, ed.), the state will be forced to terminate all these agreements on use or lease. Accordingly, if previously a museum or reserve had to find violations in order to terminate a contract, now, according to this law, no state structure has the right to lease anything to this religious organization. In addition, a more interesting process will begin because, due to the loss of legal personality of the statutes of these religious organizations, all other buildings that were built and belong to them as religious organizations will also be questioned, and it is unknown what their fate will be. And the last stage is those churches that are privately owned. […] So, please, serve somewhere in apartments or basements. You wanted to be persecuted, didn’t you? Religious buildings are not for you,” – Chornomorets said.

The religious scholar noted that of the options remaining for the UOC in the current situation, the best would be to join the OCU. At the same time, he claims that the state will not object if the Church declares complete independence. However, he is convinced that if nothing is done, the UOC will have to go underground.

“What will happen to the UOC itself is also unclear. […] All this must be deconstructed and broken up. We are an independent state with our own Orthodox traditions. And even if you break off relations with the ROC and there is a second independent church in Ukraine, that’s not a bad thing either. Join the OCU or do something, because if you continue to do nothing, you will end up serving somewhere in basements and complaining to the whole world that you have all been offended and that Moscow has not protected you,” – he added.

Earlier, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, acknowledged that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church would go underground in the event of further pressure from the state and a final ban. He added that a legislative ban on the UOC is not enough, so the OCU and the UGCC will have to work hard to convince UOC believers to renounce their Church.