Only court will be able to stop activities of religious organization connected to russian Orthodox Church - State Service for Ethnopolitics

Only a court can terminate the activities of a religious organization associated with the russian Orthodox Church (ROC).

This is stated in the message of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience on Facebook, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

The message emphasizes that on August 20, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law "On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Field of Activities of Religious Organizations", which does not prohibit the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) as such, but provides for the severing of its ties with the russian Orthodox Church, which is inseparable from the russian regime and actively contributes to war crimes, crimes against humanity and other atrocities committed by russia in the course of its armed aggression against Ukraine.

Religious organizations associated with the Moscow Patriarchate are given the opportunity to withdraw from its membership, following a clearly defined procedure.

State policy emphasizes that the decision on whether or not a religious organization is part of the russian Orthodox Church, as well as the question of ending its activities, will be made on the basis of research conducted by impartial experts independent of the state. The State Service for Ethnopolitics provides a study that establishes the presence or absence of one or another religious organization in Ukraine as part of the russian Orthodox Church.

"In the event that the fact of such entry is established, the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience directs a prescription to this religious organization. For example, if the representatives of the religious organization are part of the governing bodies of the russian Orthodox Church - its Synod, the Synod of Bishops, the Synodal Commission, the Inter-Catholic Presence. The prescription will contain a requirement to withdraw from these bodies and provide the relevant evidence. In this case, this religious organization will not be subject to this law. If the religious organization refuses to comply with the order, the court - and only the court, as it should be in a democratic society, will resolve the issue of the termination of the activities of this religious organization," the State Service for Ethnopolitics explains.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on August 20, the Verkhovna Rada banned the activities of the russian Church in Ukraine. It is assumed that the activity of religious organizations affiliated with a foreign religious organization, the activity of which is prohibited in Ukraine, should be terminated.

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