A bill was registered in the Ukrainian parliament on Monday, which allows to ban the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which before the start of the war was connected with the Moscow Patriarchate, Reuters reports.

Kyiv has accused the church of undermining Ukrainian unity and colluding with Russia after launching a full-scale invasion last February, a charge it denies.

The bill envisages the possibility of banning by court order religious organizations whose membership includes persons convicted of war propaganda, violating the law prohibiting the justification of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or violating the equality of citizens with regard to religious beliefs. .

Registration of the project in the parliament in Kyiv is the first step in the process of its adoption, now the law will be discussed by a specialized commission in the legislative body before being brought to the plenary session.

Metropolitan Pavel of the UOC was informed of the suspicion of inciting religious enmity and spreading materials justifying Russian aggression, a charge he denies.

In the explanatory note to the draft law, it is noted that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is considered an integral part of the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine “with the aim of supporting the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.”

What are the two Orthodox churches in Ukraine?

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was under the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate until the start of the war last year, but now claims to have severed ties with it and is the target of a politically motivated “witch hunt”.

Another major church in Ukraine is the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which split from the UOC due to its affiliation with Russia. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople recognized the autocephaly of the OCU in 2018.

In May of this year, the OCU announced that it had decided to switch to the agreed Julian calendar, according to which Christmas is celebrated on December 25, in order to distance itself from Russia.

Before the invasion of their country last year, most Orthodox in Ukraine celebrated Christmas on January 7, as did other Orthodox countries that use the Julian calendar, introduced in 46 BC.

“This issue has arisen with new force as a result of Russian aggression,” says the message of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on Facebook about the transition to the celebration of Christmas in December.

At the same time, she clarified that individual parishes will have the opportunity to continue to follow the old Julian calendar if they wish, noting that “calendar reform will be carried out without coercion, gradually and deliberately.”

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