Ukraine’s Parliament has approved an historic bill to ban the Orthodox Church with ties to the Russian Patriarchate.
It has not yet gone into effect but gives the affected parishes nine months to “cut ties” with the Russian Orthodox Church, which has repeatedly supported the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The bill was passed with a majority of 265 votes. President Zelenskyy commented on the importance of this bill, saying:
“Today I want to note the work of the Verkhovna Rada. A law on our spiritual independence was passed.
“This is what we discussed with members of the Council of churches and religious organisations. And in the coming days, I will also speak with representatives of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.”
Bartholomew is Patriarch of Constantinople and has repeatedly condemned Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill’s support of the invasion.
In the early months of the conflict in 2022, Pope Francis had a phone call with Patriarch Kirill to discuss the importance of ongoing dialogue. The two also stated that “the church must not use the language of politics.”
Pope Francis has repeatedly tried to meet with Kirill since the invasion: from a meeting in Jerusalem in June 2022 to the plenary session of the Congress for the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan. But both were cancelled.
The Russian Foreign Ministry responded to the Ukrainian parliament’s decision almost immediately. Its spokeswoman described the bill as an attempt to “destroy true canonical Orthodoxy and replace it with a surrogate, a false church.”
The Moscow Patriarchate also responded by saying this decision is a “clear violation of internationally recognised human rights in the field of religious freedom.”
