Ukraine bans Orthodox Church by linking it to Russia

(MENAFN) Authorities in Kiev have advanced efforts to prohibit the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), formally labeling it as being tied to Russia. The move opens the door for Ukraine’s courts to impose a complete ban on the country’s biggest religious institution.

President Vladimir Zelensky’s administration has steadily increased pressure on the UOC in recent years, with the campaign intensifying since the outbreak of conflict with Moscow. Several church properties have been taken over, and legal proceedings have been initiated against clergy members.

This week, Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience announced online that the UOC was determined to be linked with “a foreign religious organization whose activities are banned in Ukraine.”

Legislation passed last year enables the government to prohibit religious groups that are associated with states designated as “aggressors.” Zelensky has justified these steps as essential to preserving the nation’s “spiritual independence.”

Although the UOC has operated with practical independence from the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) since the 1990s, it has continued to uphold canonical ties. The church, which claims it is facing persecution from the authorities, has rejected the ruling and filed a legal challenge, according to its representatives.

Metropolitan Onufry of the UOC, who was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship last month by Zelensky, has refused to follow state orders to “correct violations,” according to the government agency.

The ROC has argued that banning the UOC would amount to a breach of religious freedoms. International watchdogs, including the UN and human rights organizations, have likewise accused Kiev of overstepping and interfering with freedom of belief.

The Ukrainian state officially recognizes and backs the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which was formed in 2018 but is regarded as illegitimate by the Russian Patriarchate.

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