The State Ethnic Policy Committee asks MPs not to embarrass themselves. What’s wrong with the bill to ban the Moscow church?
25 July 2024 16:00
EXCLUSIVE
The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience calls on the Verkhovna Rada to eliminate legislative spam and other nonsense in the draft law banning the activities of religious organisations affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine before the second reading. [Kommersant] found out what angered the State Department of National Policy and why religious scholars do not support the draft law.
The State Department for National Policy stated that MPs did not listen to the opinion of experts who, together with the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, worked to improve the content of the bill for the second reading. As a result, MPs rejected the vast majority of amendments.
“More than 1,200 amendments were submitted to draft law No. 8371 for the second reading, including, along with constructive proposals, a large number of legislative spam, outright nonsense, constructions that distorted the original intent of the draft law, as well as proposals that were openly aimed at completely destroying the draft law, making it impossible to implement it and, ultimately, discrediting Ukraine in the international arena,” the State Policy Centre said.
“So far, it has not been possible to cleanse the draft law of blatant Sovietism and inc onsistencies,” the ministry said. For example, the draft law still contains the following requirement: those who want to establish ties with a banned religious organisation, i.e. the Russian Church, must obtain a special permit from the State Department of State Service of Ukraine for Religious Affairs. So the agency is asking a rhetorical question: what kind of situation is regulated by this regulation and who in their right mind would establish ties with an organisation that has become a continuation of the criminal regime of the Russian Federation. Who will give permission for this, how and why?
Bill No. 8371 brings the country back to the time of atheism
Religious scholar Liudmyla Filipovych explains for Kommersant Ukrainsky that while the draft law banning the Moscow church was liberal in the first reading, after passing through the committee, it contained provisions that are far from democracy, freedom of conscience and religion.
“The general impression is that we are slipping into the worst times of the atheistic state, which could only speak to the church in the language of bans, persecution, orders, etc.” – religious scholar Liudmyla Filipovych
Thelegal field of Ukraine has enough laws that law enforcement agencies and prosecutors use when bringing certain charges, says the religious scholar. Liudmyla Filipovych gives examples of when the law was sufficient. In particular, to arrest Pavlo Lebid and bring to justice the Metropolitan of Zaporizhzhia of the UOC-MP, Luka. The main thing is to prepare the materials correctly, referring to the current laws and regulations. In particular, treason, collaboration, creation of a criminal organisation and participation in it. Prosecute under the article “incitement to religious hatred and enmity”.
“We need to act point by point. If a priest, bishop, etc. is guilty, collect evidence, bring a suspicion, and judge. What difference does it make what faith the guys who burnt the military vehicles in Lviv have? If you cooperate with Russia, make lists of teachers and doctors, you are responsible for it. Not because you’re an Orthodox priest, but because you’re a bastard,” Liudmyla Filipovych
This draft law is rather political in nature, says the religious scholar. And she is not sure that it will even work in the legal field.
According to Filipovych, the document is directed against a huge number of subjects of legal relations. She also reminds us that today we have more than 8,000 parishes, 12,000 priests and monks, and millions of believers. “How will this law cope with so many people who, according to the deputies, will violate it?” the religious scholar obviously asks a rhetorical question.
Will the bill solve the problem within Orthodoxy?
All 30 years have been losing years for us, says religious scholar Liudmyla Filipovych. After all, there were anti-Ukrainian media outlets, such as the Union of Orthodox Journalists or the newspaper Rus Derzhavnaia, right under our noses.
“After 30 years, a political order appeared and suddenly the SBU exposed the FSB network under the cover of the UOC-MP. Did you not notice for 30 years? Did you swallow it all? I can name by name those who have been working against Ukraine for 30 years,” Liudmyla Filipovych
Therefore, the religious scholar is sure that laws that prohibit something do not work well. The proposed bill will not solve the problem of the Orthodox conflict within the country, the division into two churches, Filipovych says. According to the religious scholar, the document is incomplete because it was written by people who have little knowledge of church history, religion, and are not familiar with the specifics of religious life.
Is legislation powerless in matters of religion?
We need to work with people. A huge amount of information, explanatory and educational work is needed, says religious scholar Liudmyla Filipovych. A priest of the UOC-MP, who holds on to his parish because it is his only source of income, is not interested in this.
“Out of 8.5 thousand parishes, only 500 have moved to the OCU since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The rest do not want to move. We need to think more systematically, to call top managers, crisis managers who would work with one side and the other,” Liudmyla Filipovych
The prosecutor’s office, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the police should work well. However, the religious scholar believes that financial sanctions and fines are the most effective.
What is the fate of the bill to ban the Moscow church?
Bill 8371 was postponed until August. However, Filipovych doubts that MPs will be able to vote for the document even by the end of the summer.
Moreover, the international law firm Amsterdam & Partners LLP has volunteered to defend the rights of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on a pro bono basis. Bob Amsterdam, a lawyer for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, said that there is no place in Europe for laws that prohibit religion and visited Ukraine to meet with his client, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
As a reminder, at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada on 23 July, some MPs blocked the rostrum demanding the adoption of a bill to stop the activities of the UOC (MP) in Ukraine. According to MP Mykyta Poturaev, the negative response from of the State Service came as a surprise to him. “They said they had agreed on everything. So he was outraged by the conclusion.
In his turn, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, said that the draft law had changed significantly by the second reading and that some colleagues did not agree with all the changes. It needs to be revised. Parliament will begin its next session with the ban on the Moscow church.
Author – Anastasia Fedor
