Newly elected head of the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epifaniy welcomes a parliament decision on the renaming of the former Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP).
"Reality must reveal the truth. Every Orthodox Ukrainian must know which church they visit," he told the Pravo Na Vladu TV panel show, the TSN news service reports.
Read alsoFormer UOC-MP sees no grounds for change of its name
According to Epifaniy, this decision is likely to ease rather than complicate the situation between the Orthodox churches in Ukraine.
At the same time, he said the political component of this decision should not be overestimated.
"There is no interference in church affairs here. The state is streamlining its legislation with regard to security," he explained.
"There is no interference here. The Ukrainian people wanted and expected this," Epifaniy added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, on Thursday passed a bill to rename the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. If a religious organization subject to this legislation fails to change its official name and does not apply for re-registration within four months after the law takes effect, its statute becomes void.
