Ukrainian parliament backs bill addressing Russian influence in orthodox church

The bill aimed at addressing Russian influence, designated as No. 8371, was approved by 267 members of parliament through their vote.

As was evident from Honcharenko's broadcast from the parliamentary hall, MP Artem Dmytruk (expelled from the Servant of the People faction) spoke in defense of the Moscow Patriarchate. During the speech of MP Yuriy Boyko (former co-chair of the banned Opposition Platform), lawmakers chanted "shame", "agent" and "away with the Moscow priest".

Iryna Herashchenko called the vote "historic": "The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has taken the first step to stink out the Moscow priests from the Ukrainian land [...] What does this law say? It is not about religion, not about the church. It is about protecting the national security of Ukraine. It says that a church that has a metropolis in Moscow is not really a church, but an FSB branch. And it can be closed by court order."

What is known about the bill?

In January, the Cabinet of Ministers registered a draft law in the Verkhovna Rada that would ban the activities of religious organizations associated with Russia in Ukraine. This document may suspend the activities of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The bill was prepared by the National Security and Defense Council, which asked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to consider the activities of religious organizations in Ukraine in the context of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. The reason is to prevent a split in society on religious grounds, to promote the consolidation of Ukrainian society, and to protect national interests.

The Moscow Patriarchate church argued that they were acting legally within the framework of Ukrainian legislation, and called the NSDC decision "ambiguous." They point to the term "Moscow Patriarchate", while "the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (official legal name -ed.), according to all constituent documents, is independent and not subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate."

Metropolitan Oleksandr Drabynko of Pereyaslav and Vyshneve of the Orthodox Churhc of Ukraine told hromadske that the decision to ban the Moscow Patriarchate church can be made only after a church-canonical assessment of the Moscow Patriarchate's connection with the center in Moscow is made.

After the meeting with the clergy, Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said that the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations had expressed its support for the bill. However, the Moscow Patriarchate, whose head, Metropolitan Onufriy, is also a member of the Council of Churches, claimed that the results of the meeting were manipulated.