UOC-MP violates the law by not specifying its origination from aggressor country in its name – expert opinion
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate violates the Law of Ukraine "On freedom of conscience and religious organizations", not indicating in its name its origination from the aggressor country.
This is stated by a religious journalist, co-founder of the project "Cerkvarium" Tetiana Derkach in her column on RISU, UKRINFORM reports.
According to the journalist, the law on freedom of conscience and religious organizations "requires religious organizations (religious associations) to indicate in their name the structural affiliation to another religious organization (Association), the governing center of which is located in the aggressor country." "The Minister's reminder of the need to comply with this provision is not his personal whim. Either change the law (with all social consequences) or admit that you openly call to committing an offense," she added.
According to Derkach, in order to "legally avoid complying with the requirements of the law on renaming, the UOC-MP asked the ROC to allocate it a whole section in its Charter, specifying that its governing center is in Kyiv. And in general, in the same Charter of the ROC it is written about the full independence and independence of the UOC. Again, we will take out the question, and why the mention of the "independent and autonomous "UOC-MP is inscribed in the Charter of the ROC."
The journalist recalls that to avoid ambiguity, judgment and manipulation, pursuant to the transitional provisions of the law "experts of the Ministry of Culture in January 2019 was prepared a detailed theological examination based on the study of two key regulatory documents of the Russian Orthodox Church Charter and Charter on government of UOC, which are known, may not contradict the principles of canonical obedience and the device within the Church. So, against the legality of carrying out and conclusions of this examination lawsuits are filed.
"But a word dropped from a song makes it all wrong," Derkach says. "For some reason, the religious expertise was guilty of simply reminding everyone of the provisions of the statutes of both Churches. I will allow myself a little bit of officiousness and quotes for the sake of those who do not understand the Ukrainian canonical and legislative intricacies, and whose consciousness can be successfully manipulated by interested persons."
The author emphasizes that the Charter on the UOC governance clearly indicates the entry of the UOC into the ROC:
Russian Russian Orthodox Church is a self-governing part of the Russian (Russian) Orthodox Church "(p. 5, section I);
In the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the supreme power belongs to the Council of the UOC, whose duties, in particular, include:
* maintaining the canonical integrity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as well as its canonical unity with the Russian Orthodox Church and with all local Orthodox Churches;
* supervision over the implementation of decisions of Local Councils of the Russian Orthodox Church (para. b-c section 6. II).
The Council of Bishops of the UOC, which enjoys full authority, acts on the basis of the sacred canons of the Church, the resolutions of the Local Councils and Bishops' Councils of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as the Councils of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (para. 5 section (III)".
"The head of the UOC, a Metropolitan, is elected for life by the episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and obtains the blessing from His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia. The Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine is a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Russian (Russian) Orthodox Church - the governing body of this religious association (para 1 section V)".
Derkach notes that the Charter of the ROC, section X, provides for the affiliation of the UOC to the Moscow Patriarchate into the ROC. It outlines the rights of the UOC as part of the ROC, as well as the restriction of its "autonomy" rights:
- the status of the UOC: it is some incomprehensible "self-governing Church with the rights of broad autonomy" (and not autocephaly, which in the Orthodox tradition is synonymous with real independence);
- the Charter of the UOC is approved by the Primate of the UOC and by the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia;
- the Primate of the UOC is blessed by the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia;
- the name of the Primate of the UOC is mentioned only after the name of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia (this is a clear and unambiguous sign of canonical subordination);
- the decision on the establishment of dioceses and the definition of its territorial boundaries are approved by the Bishops' Council of the ROC;
- hierarchs of the UOC are members of the Local Council and the Bishops' Council of the ROC and participate in their work and in meetings of the Holy Synod of the ROC;
- decisions of the Local Council and Bishops' Councils of the ROC are binding on the UOC;
- the court of the Bishops' Council of the ROC is the ecclesiastical court of the highest instance for the UOC."
"Individual Councils, Synod and the ecclesiastical court of the UOC-MP are fine, but they are not organs of the highest instance for this Church. This is similar to the subjects of the Russian Federation: the legislative Duma of the Khabarovsk territory is the permanent supreme and the only legislative authority of the subject of Russia. But this does not imply its complete independence from the Kremlin. All these arguments are fully confirmed on the official website of the ROC," said the journalist.
It should be noted that Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Volodymyr Borodyansky stated in his interview to RISU that it would be fair if religious organizations specified in their name to what religious center they belong.
At the plenary session on December 20, 2018, Ukraine's Parliament adopted as a whole the law that obliges the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate to indicate in its name its affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).
Read the full text by Tetiana Derkach here.
