Growing pressure on Moscow-tied churches as Ukraine awaits court hearing

While Ukraine’s courts weigh the future of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, other governments have pursued similar policies to curtail Moscow-linked churches.

The Ukrainian security services have opened 180 criminal cases against clergy associated with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Figures obtained by the Ukrainska Pravda outlet include 45 cases relating to allegations of UOC clergy justifying the invasion and 33 of alleged collaboration. There are 23 bishops among the accused.

The security services released the figures after Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) launched a legal challenge against the UOC last month, which sought to prohibit the operations of the Kyiv Metropolis, its administrative centre.

This followed an investigation that found that the Kyiv Metropolis had not cut its historic ties with the Moscow Patriarchate. The court hearing, which was originally scheduled for 30 September, has been postponed.

Viktor Yelenskyi, the head of the DESS, told reporters that even a ruling in favour of the challenge would not automatically lead to the closure of all UOC parishes across the country, nor would the state determine what canonical path they should follow. 

“The state does not compel or direct anyone to join the Orthodox Church of Ukraine or any other [church],” Yelenskyi said last month.

The legal dispute over the status of the UOC continued, with the Church filing a petition for an injunction to prevent the DESS from requiring other UOC entities affiliated with the Kyiv Metropolis to sever their ties with it. The UOC argued that such a decision could affect hundreds of its parishes and communities in the country. The court rejected this request. 

While Ukraine’s courts weigh the future of the UOC, other governments have pursued similar policies to curtail Moscow-linked churches.

On 17 September Estonia’s parliament, the Riigikogu, adopted legislation for the third time calling for religious organisations to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. The unamended Churches and Congregations Act said President Alar Karis of Estonia, who has twice rejected such legislation, could either it or to refer it to the Supreme Court for review.

President Karis refused to promulgate the law and forwarded it to the Supreme Court, insisting that Estonia’s penal code was sufficient to address any security concerns related to the activities of religious organisations, notably the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church (EKOK).

“The problem is not the lack of legal means, but their limited or insufficient use – we should, when necessary, apply existing measures more forcefully,” he said on 3 October.

Bishop Daniel of Tartu, vicar of the Diocese of Tallinn and spokesman for the EKOK, criticised the Riigikogu’s vote and complained of decisions taken without proper consultation.

“For nearly a year, our issue has been discussed and decisions made without us. Throughout the entire process of preparing these legal amendments, neither the Ministry of the Interior nor the Riigikogu reached out to our church,” he said.

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