Nine months needed not to save Moscow-linked church, but to comply with legal procedures - Poturaiev

The period of nine months is needed not to save religious institutions affiliated with Russia, but to comply with all legal procedures provided for in connection with the upcoming entry into force of the bill "On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Field of Activities of Religious Organizations."

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy Mykyta Poturaiev said this in a comment to Ukrinform.

"After the adoption of this law, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which says that it has severed relations with the Moscow Patriarchate, although in fact there are many reasons to doubt this, will nevertheless begin the process of real and final separation from Moscow. And it is better, of course, that in addition to the processes of final separation from Moscow, the process of unification with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine should take place. It really takes a certain amount of time," Poturaiev said.

He noted that this would not mean that the law would not apply during this period.

"It is written in the law that it enters into force one month after being signed. This is due to certain procedural peculiarities when such an important and politically complex bill enters into force. Three months are also given (and this is the minimum term, because in other cases we usually give six months) for the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience to develop regulations under this law. And this, in particular, is the provision on the composition of the commission, which must be independent of the executive authorities and which will conduct research into the existence of connections, affiliation with Moscow or research into the spread of the ideology of the 'Russian world'," the MP said.

Thus, four months from the moment of adoption of the law will be spent on entry into force and development of normative acts.

"So, within four months, the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience will be able to start forming a commission. This will also take some time. Then the commission will conduct research and it is necessary to allocate another two months for this, so in total, this will take six months. And then, if violations are found, the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience issues an order and two months are given for its implementation, taking into account the administrative appeal procedure," Poturaiev said.

In January 2023, the government registered in the Verkhovna Rada bill No. 8371 on the prohibition of religious organizations in Ukraine, according to which the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate could be terminated.

On October 19, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the bill at first reading.

On July 23, MPs blocked the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada due to the parliament's refusal to consider a bill banning the activity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, thus disrupting a plenary meeting.

The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations announced on August 17 that it supports the legislative initiative to ban the activities of religious organizations associated with the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.