Ukraine won’t close any church: it’s about Ukrainian Orthodox Church renouncing its affiliation with Russia – Kovalska
Ukraine has not closed a single church and does not intend to do so in the near future. The issue is about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) renouncing its status as affiliated with the aggressor state, stated Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Olena Kovalska.
"We are a democratic state that operates within the law. And the law, which specifically concerns the UOC, is about the legal framework. The state has not closed a single church, and will not close it in the near future. The issue is about the UOC renouncing its status as affiliated with an aggressor state," Kovalska said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to her, the attitude here is the same as with business or anyone else – "you shouldn’t be associated with an aggressor country." In the case of a religious structure, this is even more dangerous, since it influences people.
Kovalska noted that Ukraine has never banned the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in conjunction with the Moscow Patriarchate.
"In Ukraine, the law ‘On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Activities of Religious Organizations’ prohibits the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is considered an ideological continuation of the Russian regime and complicit in crimes against humanity. As for the UOC, it must withdraw from this organization (the ROC), and then it will have every opportunity to continue to operate freely and without any obstacles," she emphasized.
Moreover, Ukraine does not demand that the UOC change the language of worship, change the calendar, arbitrarily declare autocephaly, or become part of another church.
According to Kovalska, the UOC leadership has so far refused to comply with the order of the State Service for Ethnopolicy and Freedom of Conscience.
"Accordingly, the State Service for Ethnopolicy and Freedom of Conscience, in accordance with the law, filed a lawsuit to terminate the Kyiv Metropolitanate—the governing center of the UOC. Essentially, the UOC is fighting in court for the right to continue to be subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate. But it can still comply with the order to sever its subordination to a center that has explicitly declared its goal to destroy Ukraine, and operate freely in our country," Kovalska concluded.