Mukachevo diocese of the UOC: Liquidation of the Church registration can restore the Carpathorusskaya Church of Ruthenians

The legal department of the Mukachevo diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church published a statement according to which the possible revocation of the state registration of the UOC by Ukrainian courts may lead to unforeseen legal consequences — de jure restoration of the Carpathorussian Orthodox Church of Ruthenians. This church was forcibly liquidated by the Stalinist regime after 1946 and joined the structure of the Moscow Patriarchate, which preceded the UOC.

According to the material published on the Official Website of the Mukachevo Diocese of the UOC, the annulment of the registration of the Kyiv Metropolitanate of the UOC and its diocesan offices legally revokes also the decision of the Soviet authorities to liquidate the Karpathorussian Church. «By liquidating the Kyiv Metropolitanate of the UOC and by this all diocesan administrations of the UOC, they legally restore the status of the Carpathorussian Orthodox Church of the Ruthenians of Podkarpackie Rus’,» the statement reads.

The legal department believes that these court decisions, in fact, cancel Stalin’s order and fall under the Law of Ukraine «On Decommunization…». If the believers of Transcarpathia are deprived of the opportunity to legally belong to the structure of the UOC, then, according to this logic, the legal status that existed before the Soviet period is restored.

The statement also emphasizes that the liquidation of a legal entity does not mean the disappearance of the Church itself as a community. «The Church of Christ is not liquidated by this, because millions of believers and faithful and acting bishops remain faithful,» the authors note. In addition, they refer to the new legislation «On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations,» which allows religious communities to operate even without official registration.

Thus, according to the lawyers, Transcarpathia in case of cancellation of registration of the UOC can return the jurisdiction of the Carpathorussian Church of Ruthenians, which until 1946 was recognized by the Serbian and Constantinople Patriarchates and now, according to them, «actively restored by the decisions of Ukrainian courts».

We would like to remind you that earlier we published an analytical article on whether parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will be able to transfer to other Local Churches in case of the ban of the Kyiv Metropolitan Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.