On September 23, Law No 3894-IX went into effect in Ukraine 'On defending the constitutional order in the sphere of activities of religious organisations'. President Zelensky signed the law on August 24, Ukraine's Independence Day. In practice, the law mainly amounts to serious restrictions on activities of one of the country's major Orthodox churches: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UeOK) under Metropolitan Onoefri.
The UeOK has broken away from Moscow but members of this church, especially its leaders, are still suspected of sympathising with Moscow or even secretly supporting the war. In a country that has been suffering malignant attacks from a neighbouring state for two years now, is it permissible for a church to exist that has its origins in this neighbouring state? Or have the leaders and believers of this church convincingly detached themselves from Moscow, and are they unjustly suspected and persecuted? While the acceptance of this law puts a provisional end to legal and political proceedings at the state level, conflicts in Ukrainian society that have been going on for years are now possibly going to become even greater. Officially, it was not even about the UeOK and this church does not appear explicitly anywhere in the text of the law. However everyone is talking about this church. The discussion in parliament now seems concluded, but public discussions continue.
Read the full article (in Dutch) on the Platform Oosters Christendom
