President: The institution dealing with religious issues must be strengthened

Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Photo: a screenshot from the Fakti ICTV YouTube channel

In the national telethon, President V. Zelenskyy noted that it is necessary to strengthen the institution which deals with religious issues to make it more independent.

Responding to a question about requests by OCU representatives to hold services at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Zelenskyy said that he would like to understand more about religion and said that he had talked to religious scholar Viktor Yelensky.

"I liked this man very much, and as far as I can assess, he understands these issues."

The President said that he was not fully versed in church matters, but wanted to help "to sort it out and be fair".

The head of State said he had started consultations with Yelensky and noted that "there are people who insist on strengthening the subjectivity of the institution that deals with religious issues in our state, the Department of which is in our Ministry of Culture".

"And probably now is the time, because we are facing serious challenges, for this institution to be more institutionalized, to be separate, and for no one to have any influence on it," said the President of Ukraine.

According to the head of State, this institution must be fair and people who work there should be professionals and understand the issues of religion. "There should be no questions to them from the state, and from society," Zelenskyy stressed.

He said that he is deeply interested in the topic, reads a lot, and intends to discuss the issue with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Culture of Ukraine.

Note that religious scholar Viktor Yelensky, an MP of the Verkhovna Rada of the 8th convocation, is the author of a number of anti-church bills. Earlier he said that the OCU had been granted the Thomos in order to achieve unity in Ukraine.

As reported, Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the situation around the UOC.

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