Primate of the UOC may be elected only under its effective statute, Department of Religions

In response to the request submitted by the Religious Information Service of Ukraine and the believers, the State Department for Religions and Nationalities to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine gave explanations about the procedure for making possible amendments and additions to the registered Statute of Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The matter concerns a possibility of repetition in 2014 in the UOC of the situation of 1992 when directly at the Council of Bishops the amendment were made to the current Statute of the UOC, and in accordance with these amendments, the Church Primate was elected at once.

The Department clarifies the following:

1. The changes to existing registered Statute shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the Statute of a religious organization. In particular, the Statute of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church may be amended under paragraph 7 of Section II by the Council of the UOC, and under paragraph 9 of Section III by the Synod of Bishops of the UOC.

 2. If the amendments do not contradict the current legislation of Ukraine, they shall be registered with the central executive body that implements the state policy in the area of religion according to the procedure stipulated by law (Article 14 of the Law of Ukraine “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations”).

3. It is only upon approval of amendments to the statutes by the state government that the new provisions come into force.

The Department of Religions states: Whereas, pursuant to applicable Statute of the UOC, neither the UOC Council, nor the Council of Bishops of the UOC, which are entitled to make amendments to the current statute of the UOC, cannot be convened by August 13, 2014, so the election of the new Primate of the UOC on August 13, 2014 at the Council of Bishops can only take place on the basis of the current statute of a religious organization.

The Department of Religions hopes that such responsible Council of Bishops of the UOC and the election of a new head of the Church will be held with no violations of the statute of a religious organization and will not cause any conflicts or escalation of tensions inside the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Department also expresses the hope that the hierarchy of the UOC reaches consensus and reconciliation, and shows an example of Christian and patriotic responsibility for the fate of the people of Ukraine in the context of the annexation of the Crimea and the war against Ukraine.