Prohibition of the UOC: suicide on a national scale
The Rada banned the country's largest denomination with millions of believers without any reason. Let's look at why this is suicide for a country at war.
Day 19th of October 2023 has already become a part of Ukraine's history. Today, the Verkhovna Rada voted in favor of Bill 8371, which, in effect, implies the prohibition of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the largest denomination with at least 5 million Ukrainian adherents.
How it happened:
The atmosphere in the Rada resembled more of a pub than a parliament of a European state. MPs who tried to argue that the prohibition of the Church contradicts the Constitution were booed and silenced.
At the same time, those in favor of the prohibition spoke freely, even if they presented clear falsehoods.
MP Oleksandr Alyksiychuk, MP from the “Servant of the People” faction: "What more facts do we need to finally ban the activities of the FSB agents in Ukraine?"
MP Ihor Huz: "The last Moscow outpost here is the Russian church. Everyone in this hall knows it."
MP Ivan Krulko: "This law is about finally purging Ukraine from pro-Moscow FSB scums, who do everything here for Moscow's victory."
Even a Greek Catholic deputy spoke freely, quoting the Uniate Metropolitan Sheptytsky.
MP Pavel Bakunets: "Andriy Sheptytsky, the great architect of the Ukrainian people, said 100 years ago: 'If there is no Ukrainian religion, free from the influence of enemies, then the state business cannot develop successfully.'"
A total of 267 MPs voted in favor of the UOC prohibition, with only 15 against. Could it have been different today? Hardly. Not long ago, the leader of the "C14" and other radicals publicly threatened to kill those MPs who didn't vote against the UOC. The head of the Rada's information policy committee called to draw up public lists of such deputies. They were essentially declared enemies of the people. Who would want to be an enemy of the people in a country at war?
Even before the vote, colleagues openly threatened MPs in the Rada.
MP Ihor Huz: "Tens of millions of Ukrainians will be watching the names that will vote in a few minutes. Those of you who do not press this button can consider yourselves proponents of Moscow!"
MP Solomiya Bobrovska: "Shame on you (those who don't vote for the UOC prohibition – Ed.). Your names will be known to all Ukrainians on the streets in cities, villages, etc."
Frenzied propaganda against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been ongoing for nearly a year, starting with the steps towards spiritual independence declared by Zelensky, leading to mass searches by the SBU in UOC temples and monasteries. An unprecedented campaign to smear the Church unfolded in the media, where lies were repeatedly ventilated that the UOC is a Moscow-controlled enemy structure with only traitors, collaborators, and FSB agents.
A typical example of such propaganda is the film "A Church without Christ" by MP Mykola Kniazhytsky of the "European Solidarity" party, who submitted the bill to the Rada for the UOC's prohibition. His video was released just a couple of days before the vote.
The first tactic is to call the Ukrainian Orthodox Church "Russian" and "Moscow-controlled." However, you won't find these names in any Ukrainian religious or state documents. It is a falsehood.
The second tactic is to lie to Ukrainians, claiming that the UOC is comprised of Russians and enemies who have occupied Ukrainian land.
MP Mykola Kniazhitsky: "I will tell you a very interesting story about the wealthiest public organization in Ukraine. It participates in the war against our state. In Kyiv alone, it owns 1520 hectares of land. What is this organization? It's called the Russian Orthodox Church. It operates not only in Kyiv but throughout Ukraine."
The third tactic is to lie that clerics of the UOC have committed countless crimes.
MP Mykola Kniazhytsky: "The list of crimes committed by Moscow's priests, which the SBU began documenting in December 2022, has shocked the country. The scale of their crimes has shocked Ukraine."
It's shocking, but in the opposite way. The UOC has 12,500 priests, 4,550 monks, and over a hundred bishops, totaling over 17,100 people. For this number, the SBU initiated 68 cases, and only 19 people received sentences. To put it into perspective, one out of a thousand bishops, priests, or monks of the UOC was found guilty. And this figure is truly shocking but just the other way around. The SBU conducted over 1,300 searches within the UOC. Under the new head Maliuk, security forces clearly dug deep to find any dirt on the UOC. And the SBU has ample resources for this. What is the result? Almost nothing.
A year ago, in July 2022, Zelensky announced that over 650 criminal cases related to charges of state treason and collaboration had been initiated against prosecutors, investigators, and other law enforcement officials.
After losing Crimea, 98% of all SBU employees turned into traitors, which is more than 1,300 people. These figures are truly shocking. Why doesn't Kniazhytsky initiate legislation to ban the SBU? Compared to these numbers, 68 cases and 19 convictions out of 17,100 UOC representatives are a drop in the ocean.
MP Evhen Shevchenko: "We have more traitors in the SBU and police than in the UOC. So now, should we ban the SBU and the Church?"
By the way, Kniazhytsky is a Uniate, as are many other MPs in the Rada. In 2019, they ardently supported Poroshenko. But now they are content with Zelensky. Furthermore, a few others are no less content with Zelensky.
MP Artem Dmytruk: "Who benefits from this ban? Firstly, this ban benefits Putin, who will say, 'I told you they're persecuting Orthodox Christians in Ukraine, and here I am protecting them.' With this ban, we're only playing into his morbid ambitions. I understand the benefits of voting for this bill for the previous president who lost the election. I understand the benefits for the OCU. But I don't understand what useful purpose this bill will serve for our country."
Instead of uniting and consolidating, the government, for nothing, is passing a law that will cause a colossal internal explosion, not only within Ukraine.
MP Artem Dmytruk: "Many believers of our Church are fighting on the frontlines. How will they perceive this? The UOC is not an enemy; it consists of 6 million Ukrainian citizens who, during this dire time of war, defend our country on the frontlines and work on the home front. In times of war, we should unite, but sadly, we see that many are working against Ukraine."
In reality, 267 people are committing subversion against the Ukrainian state, against a country facing severe challenges today. Millions of believers will never accept that their faith is being taken from them unjustly and brazenly. These millions won't disappear; they'll become an internal opposition. In turn, banning the Church could become a shameful act of state suicide.
