"They will not disintegrate on their own": OCU lobbyist on the liquidation of the UOC

Ludmyla Filipovych, a lobbyist of the OCU in the mass media, a doctor of philosophy and a professor at the Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, has said that despite all the actions of the state regarding the liquidation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the UOC will not lose support and the church itself will sue the state to defend its rights. She said this in a commentary to the LB.ua news and analysis website.

“They have a huge amount of money behind them, a lot of support. And they have this support not only from Novinsky, who is now sitting abroad, but also here, inside Ukraine. There are enough lobbyists of the Moscow Patriarchate even in the Office of the President”, – notes the professor.

At the same time, as Filipovych notes, the UOC will not give up even after the negative decision of all courts against the Church.

“They live in some kind of their own bubble, according to their own rules, in their own reality. And what is happening in Ukraine, I think, they perceive as a temporary state. They say we should wait until everything is finally resolved in Moscow’s favor and in their favor, respectively. Therefore, they are ready to drag out the trials, and this will go on and on. They will write appeals, appeal to international courts, endlessly feed various experts, who will say that they are persecuted for their faith in Ukraine,” said Liudmila Filipovich.

She added that for more effective work in the direction of banning the Church, it is necessary to “work with its leadership.” However, according to Filipovich, there is no one to do this yet.

“They will not disintegrate on their own. Without a doubt, it is necessary to work with the leadership of this Church. But the question is, who should work?”, – she concluded.

Recall, we recently reported that the Geneva-based human rights organization Justice for All International (JPTi) documented the facts of persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, filing a detailed complaint with the UN. In response, UN experts sent an official appeal to the Ukrainian government, confirming violations of international law. In addition, the organization appealed to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) with a demand to hold hearings on the issue and to add Ukraine to the list of countries of particular concern.