The leaders of religious associations of Ukraine outlined their position on the constitutional process and the number of legislative initiatives that caused resonance in society.
The discussion took place during the meeting of the AllUkrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations held on October 19, 2015, the Institute of Religious Freedomreports.
Having analyzed the developments of the Constitutional Commission, denomination leaders decided that the proposalsundermining the legal basis of the traditional family as the union of man and woman and remove moral barriers in exercising the rights and freedoms of citizenswere unacceptable to the draft Constitution of Ukraine.
Traditional moral values of the Ukrainian people must remain at the heart of the Constitution of Ukraine, AUCCRO claims.
In this context, the attendees heard the report of Doctor of Law Basil Kostytsky, who presented the version of the Constitution of Ukrainebased on theological and sociological theory of law, developed in the Institute of legislative forecasts and legal expertise under his guidance.
AUCCRO also discussed issues of free possession of firearms and organ transplantation.
The participants exchanged views on initiatives to introduce the right to free possession of firearms. However, as the public in general, the participants failed to develop a single view on this issue through different theological approaches.
Therefore, denomination leaders decided to leave the matter to the discretion of the public and lawmakers.
First Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Health Oksana Korchynska told AUCCRO members about legislative initiatives in the field of organ transplantation and other anatomic human materials.
Heads of churches and religious organizations have determined that against the background of positive attitudes towards organ donation as a way of charity and sacrifice on the part of the donor in respect of a person who may receive this assistance organ trafficking is absolutely inacceptable. According to AUCCRO, law must guarantee the“presumption of disagreement”for potential donors so it was a voluntary decision of man, his personal choice.
In other words, organ transplantation and other anatomic human materials should be possible only given the donor conscious consent in his lifetime, certified in writing.
In addition, together with the Department for Religious and Ethnic Culture Ukraine, AUCCRO members discussed the format of interaction with authorities for more efficient and prompt resolution of issues in church-state relations.
The meeting ended with the transfer of the chairmanship of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and religious organizations to the Senior Bishop of the Ukrainian Christian Evangelical Church Leonid Padun. According to the Regulations of AUCCRO, its members are presiding at the meetings in turns.