The UOC proved in court that its center is in Kyiv, and its connection with Moscow is only spiritual
The Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal refused to satisfy the appeal of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine in the case of suspending the renaming of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
As reported on the website of the legal department of the UOC, on July 22, the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal held a hearing on the appeal of the Ministry of Culture against the decision of the District Administrative Court of Kiev dated April 22, 2019, which satisfied the application of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC.
“... the appeal court refused the Ministry of Culture and upheld the decision of the district court, which prohibited state registration authorities from carrying out any registration actions and records regarding the UOC, including making new records in the Unified State Register,” the statement says.
As reported, on December 20, 2018, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law obliging the UOC to indicate its affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church in its name. On December 22, 2018, the fifth President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, signed the corresponding law.
The document provides that a religious organization that is part of the structure of a religious organization with a center in a state that committed military aggression against Ukraine and temporarily occupied its territory is obliged to reflect in its name its affiliation with such a center outside the country. It will be obliged to fully indicate in its charter name the name of the organization of which it is a part, and whose center is located outside of Ukraine, with the permissible addition of the words “in Ukraine.”
According to the law, if within 4 months a church with a center in the Russian Federation does not submit for registration changes to the charter for renaming, its charter in this part will lose force.
The Ministry of Culture conducted a religious examination and published a list of religious organizations that need to amend their name and charter, including the UOC.
The UOC stated that they are not subject to the law, which obliges religious organizations to indicate their religious center in the name if it is located in the “aggressor country.” According to the position of the UOC, their administrative center is not in Moscow, but in Kyiv, and their connection with Moscow is only spiritual.
On April 22, 2019, the District Administrative Court of Kyiv granted the application of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC to secure a claim in the case of canceling the order of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, according to which the Kiev Metropolis of the UOC should make changes to its name. Subsequently, the Ministry of Culture filed an appeal against this court decision.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.