The Parliament plans to hold another meeting of the relevant committee before the bill is submitted to the session hall.Discussions are ongoing in the Ukrainian Parliament regarding Bill 8371, which aims to ban the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in Ukraine. According to the Strana publication, citing its sources, there may be another meeting of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy before the bill is submitted to the session hall.
MP Natalia Pipa from the Holos party, who advocates for the swift adoption of Bill 8371, stated that discussions in the Parliament are focused on the timeline for communities to transition to other church jurisdictions – whether it should be six months or a year. There is also debate about who will be on the commission that will evaluate and issue verdicts on the "affiliation" of communities with the aggressor state.

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Epifaniy assured Patriarch Bartholomew that the doors and hearts of OCU representatives are open to all.On 13 August at the meeting of the official delegation of Ukraine with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the head of the OCU Epifaniy Dumenko assured the Ecumenical Patriarch that he constantly calls on representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to unite.
“The Orthodox Church of Ukraine and I personally always and invariably proclaim that our doors and our hearts are open to all. We have repeatedly appealed and continue to appeal to our brothers and sisters, who are still in the Moscow jurisdiction, with a call for unity, for the joint creation of a single Local Church, as defined by the Tomos and canonical order,” the press service of the OCU cites Dumenko.
Earlier police officers, who were engaged in seizing the Transfiguration Cathedral of the UOC in Bila Tserkva, as well as the OCU activists themselves used tear gas against parishioners.
Also, during the seizure of the Ivano-Frankivsk Cathedral of the UOC on 28 March 2023, the secretary of the eparchy, Archpriest Vasyl Romaniuk, was hospitalised unconscious as a result of tear gas directed in his face.
On 25 July 2022, the “dean” of the Kremenchuk district of the OCU, Volodymyr Makohon, stated that 90% of the ‘clergy’ of Dumenko's structure were against uniting with priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

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Despite the fact that the term of detention has ended, contrary to the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, despite violations by judges. Lawlessness continues. Where is the Guarantor of the Constitution when the Prosecutor General or the Board of Judges intervenes?

On Thursday, August 15, at 1:00 p.m., in the Slavyansk City District Court, Donetsk region, a regular court hearing in the case of the abbot of the Sviatogorsk Lavra, Metropolitan Arseny.

For three days - from August 13 to 15 - the presiding judge considers the issue of choosing a measure of restraint for Vladyka!

Metropolitan Arseny is still in prison, despite the fact that
🔺the grounds for his detention have already been declared unconstitutional: in July this year, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine declared unconstitutional part six of Article 615 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine on the extension of the term of detention under martial law,

🔺the decision to extend the detention of Vladyka was made by a judge who was not authorized to do so,
🔺The 60 days of detention appointed on April 25 by the Zhovtnevyi District Court in Dnipro expired on June 22.

❗However, the abbot of the Lavra is still imprisoned in the Dnipro pre-trial detention center.

Brothers and sisters, we ask for your holy prayers!

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Lawyers emphasize that this is not the first instance where the investigator has failed to arrange escort.Lawyers for the Orthodox journalists believe that the Kyiv Court of Appeal is violating the rights of the suspects.
In a comment to the UOJ, the lawyers stated that on May 29, 2024, a session of the Kyiv Court of Appeal was supposed to consider an appeal against the decision of the investigating judge to extend the detention of Orthodox journalist Andriy Ovcharenko.
However, Judge Melnyk of the Kyiv Court of Appeal postponed the consideration of the appeal "due to the failure to deliver the detained Ovcharenko to the courtroom."
The court explained that they were unable to deliver Andriy Ovcharenko to the courtroom because the escorting ot the suspect had not been coordinated with the investigator.
Lawyers emphasize that this is not the first instance where the investigator has failed to arrange the convoy.
At the same time, in all judicial processes initiated by the investigation, detainees are delivered on time.
Lawyers consider such actions "a violation of the rights of the suspects to a fair consideration of the appeal."

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The ruling bishop of the Cherkasy Eparchy stated that he has to go home to the Kyiv region every night and cannot participate in church services.On May 29, in the Sosnivka District Court of Cherkasy, a hearing was held on changing the measure of restraint for Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv, according to Suspline.
Provocateurs with portraits of Patriarch Kirill awaited the bishop outside the court, once again staging a protest against Metropolitan Theodosiy. One of the defendant's lawyers, Volodymyr Yudin, could not enter the courtroom for 20 minutes as activists detained him. The judge started the hearing without the bishop's defender, and later the lawyer joined the proceedings. Yudin informed law enforcement about the activists' offensive behavior by writing a statement to the police.
The prosecutor requested the extension of the measure of restraint for Metropolitan Theodosiy in the form of nighttime house arrest. According to him, the risks continue to exist and even have increased.
Lawyer Tamara Hridenko requested to mitigate the measure of restraint for the bishop. According to her, he does not hide and has not given any reasons to think that he would, nor does he influence witnesses.
"There is an opportunity to seek political asylum in several countries, but I am interested in an objective consideration of the case. If I go abroad, curators will celebrate. I won't give them that pleasure. Don't worry, I won't go anywhere, I won't give them that reason to celebrate. I am in Ukraine and plan to live here until the end of my life," said the defendant.
According to Metropolitan Theodosiy, the current restrictions hinder him from participating in services since he is forced to go home to the Kyiv region every night.
The judge ruled to extend the nighttime house arrest for the metropolitan from 22:00 to 5:00 until July 27.
The witness who was supposed to be questioned at the court hearing did not appear.

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On May 26, activists of the OCU in the village of Zaritsk, Rivne region, initiated a regular meeting near the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.
According to "Suspilne" - TV channel, activists are not satisfied with the schedules of alternate services in the church.

Back on February 18, when supporters of Epiphany's structure tried to take away the temple, thevUOC parishioners compromised. Schedules of alternate services in in the shrine were proposed and approved: real parishioners of the temple pray from 7:00-12:00, and supporters of the OCU from 12:00-14:00.
Moreover, the rector of the temple again listened the cleric of the OCU (who is indicated as the acting rector) and agreed to hand over the temple once a month in the morning.

Now a group of activists demands that the shrine be handled more than once as month in the morning. They also trying to re-register the church.

The UOC parishioners no longer agree with the conditions of the OCU supporters, who do not even hide the fact that they are not part of this temple religious community.

As a result, the activists voted to appeal to the Rivne Regional Military Administration with a request to transfer the church to them. The RMA replied that they did not have such powers.
The AH reported that the temple is owned by the parish of the UOC.

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The head of "European Solidarity" urged to question deputies about the "true reasons" for not wanting to vote for the law banning the UOC.The fifth President of Ukraine, MP Petro Poroshenko told journalists that at the conciliation council in the Verkhovna Rada, everyone voted to consider the anti-church bill 8371 in the second reading, the press service of "European Solidarity" reports.
To put the bill to a vote in the Verkhovna Rada hall, 226 signatures of MPs are required. According to Poroshenko, there are already more than 100 signatures of MPs.
"But today, part of the mono-majority received instructions not to sign. And then I ask you as journalists – please make sure that today the list of signatories be published and then ask those who opt out of signing the law – what are the real reasons? Instructions from the Opposition Platform - For Life or instructions from Bankova? Honestly, I don't like either answer because it is about the destruction of parliamentarism," Poroshenko noted.
As the UOJ reported, the Legal Department of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine criticized bill 8371, which is aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

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To avoid losing assistance, MPs plan to return to discussing the bill again after the arrival of a high-ranking guest from America.The "Servant of the People" faction decided to postpone the consideration of bill No. 8371, which effectively leads to the prohibition of the UOC, until the end of June, NV wrote on May 23, citing a source in the parliamentary majority.
The publication reports that their interlocutor said: at the end of June, a prayer breakfast will be held in Ukraine. A high-ranking representative of the Republican Party of the United States is expected to attend the event.
Some conservative Republicans believe that the ban on religious organizations could lead to persecution of religious communities and attacks on religious freedoms.
"For them, this is a trigger point. They have repeatedly conveyed signals to parliamentarians and the Office of the President on this issue. So we can lose assistance if this happens," the NV source said.
A member of the parliamentary majority noted that the decision to postpone the issue was made, in part, to avoid disrupting the Global Peace Summit, slated for June 15-16 in Switzerland, and also "not to harm the President, not to undermine the tasks that are currently on the international political agenda."
Taking this into account, deputies will return to discussing the religious issue only after the arrival of the American politician.
As the UOJ reported, on May 22, the Servant of the People faction would gather for a meeting to discuss bill No. 8371.
"A representative of the presidential faction told NV that the meeting lasted several hours. Deputies reached a consensus that the issue requires further study and analysis of all amendments to the bill, which number more than 1,200," the statement said.

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By Editor | Published: May 22, 2024
The following press release was distributed to media today.

LONDON, MAY 22, 2024 – Robert Amsterdam, a lawyer acting on behalf of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), has today issued an open letter to the current President of the United Nations Security Council, His Excellency Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of the Republic of Mozambique.

The 18-page letter, which details numerous instances of unlawful attacks on religious freedoms, illegal detentions of priests, and violations of human rights committed by the Ukrainian government, asks President Nyusi to immediately table the issue of the attack on the UOC on the UNSC agenda as soon as possible in light of pending of pending legislation to pass an outright ban of the entire church.

“The honorable delegation from Mozambique has itself already spoken bravely against the suppression of religious freedom in Ukraine during two previous Security Council meetings,” Amsterdam writes in the letter, referring to Security Council transcripts from January 17th and November 17th of 2023.

“Our goal and the purpose of a Security Council discussion of this issue would be to ensure that the independent Ukraine that emerges from the current conflict remains committed to the most basic principles of international human rights law,” Amsterdam writes. “I am confident that you will find powerful confirmation of Ukraine’s systematic, on-going, and egregious violations of the freedom of religion and hope that a Security Council discussion would give the government of Ukraine the chance to reverse course before irreparable harm is done both to the freedom of religion and to Ukraine’s stature in the international community. The attention of the United Nations is needed urgently, not only to protect the UOC, but to defend by freedom of religion in Ukraine and around the world.”

A full copy of the letter can be downloaded from savetheuoc.com and robertamsterdam.com.

Amsterdam & Partners LLP is an international law firm with offices in Washington DC and London.

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The mayor of the city reported on what had already been done to restore the destroyed Transfiguration Cathedral.The Government of Italy transferred 500 thousand euros for the restoration of the Transfiguration of the Savior Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Odesa. This was told by the mayor Hennady Trukhanov and published the site of the mayor's office.
He said that the destruction of the cathedral after the Russian missile hit it was so significant that waiting for the money to come from Italy was not possible, as there was a threat of destruction of the remaining part of the cathedral. Therefore, the roof was restored with the money of benefactors and parishioners of the Odessa diocese of the UOC and work began in the most damaged part of the cathedral.
Trukhanov also said that an expert group and the head of the UNESCO office in Ukraine are expected to arrive in Odesa in the near future. Italians and UNESCO will help to restore other cultural monuments that suffered from shelling.
As reported by the UOJ, on the night of July 23, 2023, the Transfiguration Cathedral of the UOC in Odesa was almost destroyed due to a missile attack by the Russian Federation, with an RF missile hitting the altar.

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