The head of DESS in the Vatican justified himself for the law on the ban of the UOC

on November 18, the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), Viktor Yelenskyy, met with the prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Catholic Churches, Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, in the Vatican. During the dialog, the parties discussed the religious situation in Ukraine and the implementation of the law #3894, aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

According to the press service of the DESS, Victor Yelensky informed the Cardinal in detail about the peculiarities of religious life in the country, the implementation of the Law of Ukraine №3894 «On the protection of the constitutional order in the sphere of activity of religious organizations».

Cardinal Gugerotti, for his part, reaffirmed the Holy See’s support for the efforts to achieve sustainable peace. Discussing the internal situation, he agreed on the need for just punishment of persons, including clerics, who violate laws or collaborate with the occupiers. However, the cardinal expressed the view that it was impossible to impose collective punishments on entire religious associations.

In response, the head of the DESS explained that Ukrainian legislation does not envision collective responsibility. He noted that a religious association (meaning the UOC, — ed.) as such is not a single legal entity — this status belongs to thousands of individual religious communities. The final decision on the fate of this or that organization, according to him, is made by the court, which corresponds to the principles of a democratic society and makes it impossible to apply collective punishment.

We shall remind you that earlier we reported that the court hearing on the case of banning the Kyiv Metropolitanate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was again postponed for more than a month. Such a decision of the judges on October 30, the lawyer of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Archpriest Nikita Chekman, informed the public.