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Law adopted in first reading is against Russian Church, although only on paper
I read an article by Kateryna Shchotkina in ZN.UA that in fact the law that was passed allegedly banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchy (UOC-MP) does not prohibit anything
I have been talking and writing about this since the day it was registered. But most politicians and journalists pretend that they have performed a patriotic feat by voting in the first reading. They didn’t.
There are some inaccuracies in the article. The author writes about some ten laws. Not. The Verkhovna Rada Committee supported only the government's draft law, which was adopted in the first reading, and the parliamentary draft law 8221, which I initiated.
"All those involved in lobbying for the government's project did not want to hear about ours. They claimed that religious scholars were against it, and that the government would not support it. And they were partly right. But we need to talk about laws with lawyers, and preferably international lawyers, not religious scholars."
Even professional journalists, like the author of the article, whose book about the Tomos I read with admiration, did not fully understand the vicissitudes we experienced in defending our law. Nevertheless, she wrote an interesting and insightful article.
Other well-known journalists who write on this topic have even started posting festive banners glorifying the fictional ban on the UOC-MP.
I also voted for this project. It is against the Russian Church, although only on paper. I will try to improve it with amendments. But without the adoption of our draft law 8221, the activities of the Russian church will not be banned. There will only be an imitation of violent patriotism.
Learn more about the difference between the laws in our film 'Church Without Christ'.
About the author. Mykola Kniazhytskyi, journalist, Ukrainian lawmaker.
The editors don't always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.
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