The DESS discussed the “partnership” between the Church and the state

The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) held a conference on “The State and the Church: The Path to Partnership.” Representatives of the OCU and the UGCC, members of the Verkhovna Rada, and DESS employees participated in the event. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was not represented at the event. This was reported on the agency’s website.

It is reported that the head of the DESS, who chaired the event, outlined a vision for specific steps aimed at “building a partnership model between the state and the Church.” Yelensky believes that the state should ensure deeper cooperation between the state and the Church in the social, humanitarian, environmental, and heritage preservation spheres, as well as in the military and security spheres. Yelensky believes that the state should ensure deeper cooperation between the state and the Church in the social, humanitarian, environmental, and heritage preservation spheres, in military and prison chaplaincy, and in education and culture.

As a result of the conference, the participants agreed on the advisability of interdepartmental work on relevant amendments to the Law “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations” with the involvement of Ukrainian MPs, representatives of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, other interfaith associations, individual churches, and all interested parties.

We would like to remind you that details of the lawsuit filed by the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience against the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church became known the day before. The State Service demands not only to deprive the UOC-KP of its registration, but also to seize all its property.