The adoption in Ukraine of a law banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) may lead to a violation of the principles of freedom and religion and collective punishment of one of the communities of believers. The Secretary General of the World Council of Churches (WCC) expressed concern about this in a statement issued in Geneva Jerry Pillay and the moderator of the Central Committee of this ecumenical organization, Heinrich Bedford-Strom.
"The WCC is deeply concerned about the possibility of unjustified collective punishment of the entire religious community and violation of the principles of freedom of religion or belief under the new law adopted by the Rada of Ukraine on August 20, 2024," the document says. "We once again urge the Ukrainian government to exercise caution against measures that risk violating the fundamental right to freedom of religion or belief and undermine social cohesion at this time of national emergency," Pillay and Bedford-Strom said.
The WCC took note of the "six-stage process" provided for by the new law to consider the issue, preceding the possible ban of a religious organization. In this regard, the authors of the statement called for "a fair and unbiased approach to any such investigation and for due attention to be paid to the principles of international law, natural justice and due process in any actions under the new law." "Neither the crimes of individuals nor the historical affiliation of a particular religious entity can be a sufficient reason for taking measures equivalent to collective punishment" of the current religious community in Ukraine, Pillay and Bedford-Strom stressed. "The Government of Ukraine is responsible for protecting the rights of all its citizens," they recalled.
On August 20, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in final reading a law allowing to ban the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). On August 24, it was signed by the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky. The document is expected to enter into force 30 days after its publication.
The bill banning the UOC was prepared on the direct instructions of Zelensky and adopted in the first reading by the Verkhovna Rada in October 2023. However, for almost a year the document was not submitted for a second reading due to fears that it would not gain enough votes from deputies and would cause discontent in the West. Nevertheless, on August 16 of this year, final edits were made to the document, it received a new name ("On the protection of the constitutional order in the field of activities of religious organizations" instead of "On Amendments to some laws of Ukraine on the activities of religious organizations in Ukraine"), and the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy recommended that Parliament adopt it into account the second reading and in general.
The World Council of Churches is the largest international ecumenical organization founded in 1948. Its members are 352 Christian churches from more than 100 countries, representing about 400 million Christians. The Council's headquarters are located in Geneva.