The Constitutional Court declared the law in conformity with the Constitution, according to which the UOC-MP must change its name and indicate its affiliation with Russia.
The decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine does not oblige the UOC-MP to change its name. This was announced on Tuesday, December 27, by the head of the legal department of the UOC-MP, Archpriest Alexander Bakhov, on the website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in response to the decision of the Constitutional Court, according to which the church must demonstrate the relationship its in Russia in its name.
“The Constitutional Court of Ukraine recognized the law on changing the name as constitutional. At the same time, it should be noted that the decision of the Constitutional Court does not oblige the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) to change its name, it concerns only in compliance with the law on changing the name in the Constitution of Ukraine,” he wrote.
The lawyer said that “the law itself does not have any mention” of the UOC-MP.
“Statutory documents testify that the UOC (MP) is registered in accordance with Ukrainian law, its founder is the Cathedral of the UOC (MP), its religious center, like all governing bodies, is located in city of Kyiv. Therefore, all attempts to enforce this law against the UOC (MP) will increase cases of violation of the right to freedom of conscience and religion in Ukraine.
So, despite the decision of the Constitutional Court, it should be noted that today there is no legal basis for changing the name of religious organizations belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate),” said Bakhov.
Recall that the Constitutional Court of Ukraine recognized the law as consistent with the Constitution, which obliges the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate to indicate in its name that it belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).
Earlier, the vicar of the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel (Lebed), appealed to President Volodymyr Zelensky with a request not to remove two churches on the territory of the Lavra from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
news Correspondent.net on Telegram. Subscribe to our channel Athletistic
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.