"Do not ban the UOC" petition appears on the Cabinet of Ministers’ website

Religious procession of the UOC. Photo: UOJ

On January 13, 2022, a petition was posted on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine demanding that the position of patriotic citizens of Ukraine be taken into account during the legal resolution of the issue of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and activities of the UOC not prohibited.

The authors of the “Do not ban the UOC” petition note that they fully support the need to investigate each case of collaboration and bring to justice those whose guilt is proven in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine.

“However, we consider it impossible to attribute the crimes of individual citizens to the entire ramified institution, which is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and on this basis resort to its legal prohibition. Yes, the UOC unites people with different views, but for the most part, we all want our country to win this war and restore its territorial integrity,” the petition says.

The document says that from the inside, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is also looking for ways out of the current difficult situation, but there is an understanding that the existing contradictions cannot be overcome as quickly as we would like.

“We do not deserve the stigma of ‘collaborators’ and ‘FSB agents’. We note with sadness that such an attitude only leads to a significant demoralization of a part of the society, believers of the UOC, and in fact can serve the hidden interests of the Russian Federation regarding the destabilization and separation of Ukrainians in the conditions of war,” the authors of the appeal say.

“In view of the aforesaid, we ask the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, when developing a legislative framework, to approach the solution of the church issue in the same balanced way as it is done when considering problems in other areas of the life of the state, and not to lay the blame of individual representatives of the UOC on the entire institution, which is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” specify the faithful of the UOC in their request.

The authors of the petition remind that the Constitution of Ukraine guarantees freedom of conscience and religion to all citizens of Ukraine.

“Therefore, we, the believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, call upon the development of relevant bills on behalf of the National Security and Defense Council to show wisdom and care and resolve the church issue through dialogue, the search for truth and the protection of the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, rather than shifting the blame of certain individuals to all believers and prohibiting the whole Church instead of punishing the guilty,” the document concludes.

There are 90 days left until the end of the collection of signatures for the petition authored by Yulia Kominko. In order to sign it, you must register on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

Earlier, the faithful of the UOC tried to register a petition on the website of the President, but they were refused.

As the UOJ reported, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podoliak, answering a question from journalist Vasyl Holovanov about the fate of the UOC in Ukraine, said that the authorities were ending the two-churchism era.

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