“Experts” who examined UOC’s status should be charged with treason—head of UOC’s Legal Department

Kiev, February 9, 2023

Photo: news.church.ua Photo: news.church.ua     

In an interview yesterday, Archpriest Alexander Bakhov, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s Legal Department, spoke about the many problems with the state’s examination of the Church’s status, and even why those involved should be brought to criminal responsibility for high treason.

The “expert group” assembled to examine the UOC statutes to determine its relationship to the Moscow Patriarchate (in accordance with presidential decree) announced its conclusion on February 1, declaring that the UOC is still subject to Moscow.

However, as the UOC’s Legal Department points out, the “expert group” actually drew its conclusion from documents of the Russian Church, rather than the statutes of the UOC, which were amended in May to reflect the UOC’s separation from the Russian Church.

The “expert group” in turn declared that the Legal Department “declared the Church’s readiness to protect its connection with the Moscow Patriarchate by all available legal means.”

However, as Fr. Alexander clarifies in his interview, no such thing was said. Rather, the UOC is prepared to legally defend its right to exist and its right to freedom of religion.

Concerning the members of the “expert group,” Fr. Alexander notes that they are historians and philosophers—not anyone with competency to make decisions on matters of canon law. Moreover, several of them are openly enemies of the UOC. The Church vigorously protested the biased and unqualified makeup of the examining group, but their reasoned arguments were ignored.

Moreover, the examination itself was illegal, Fr. Alexander says, because the group was tasked with examining the statutes of the UOC, but instead it examined and based its conclusion on Russian Church documents, thereby “resorting to manipulation and creating prerequisites for a split in Ukrainian society on religious grounds, which in turns creates requisites for justifying the military aggression against Ukraine.”

“In this regard, I believe that they should be brought to criminal responsibility for high treason,” the department head stressed.

“In general, reading their conclusion, I get the impression that they were given instructions from Russia, and the subject of the study was the statutes of the Russian Orthodox Church,” Fr. Alexander adds.

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2/9/2023

See also
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Comments
Panagiotis2/10/2023 3:33 am
What a joke. The so-called "expert group" reminds me of the so-called "western experts" that blamed Russia for the bombing of the Nordstrom pipeline. How many brainwashed people believed this and blamed Russia for this? Now it has come out that it was allegedly a Western nation that was behind the Nordstrom pipeline bombing. Of course they deny it, would you expect otherwise? Remember the "weapons of mass destruction" lie that was used to justify the war on Iraq? Remember that all you brainwashed people? How many other lies have been told? How many lies have been told about what has happened in the Ukraine? How many people, including Orthodox People, have been brainwashed? The one thing that I do not like to do is to lie, as to me that is a great sin and a great dishonor. Maybe it is my Orthodox Faith, or maybe it is that little bit of Nobility in me. But believe me my friends when I tell you the diabolical internationalists hate all Orthodox Christians. Believe me my friends when I tell you that the devious internationalists are trying to destroy conservative Russia and the conservative Russian Orthodox Church. Believe me my friends when I tell you the sinister internationalists are using our Orthodox Ukrainian Brothers as cannon fodder to advance their dark agenda. Almighty God in heaven sees everything, and He cannot be brainwashed or fooled. Almighty God in heaven is with us, and He will not abandon the Orthodox People. Pray to Almighty God and the Panagia with all your heart. All glory to our True God Jesus Christ and fear God. Just my humble opinion.
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