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00:00In a move that has long been threatened, Ukraine's parliament voted Tuesday to ban the Russia-aligned Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
00:07The Moscow Patriarchate's support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused a schism in the Ukrainian church,
00:13even though its local leader condemned the invasion.
00:16President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the move to ban the Russia-linked affiliate.
00:22Today I want to note the work of the National Assembly.
00:26A law on our spiritual independence has been adopted.
00:30We will continue to strengthen Ukraine, our society.
00:35A view shared by one of the first bishops of the breakaway Pro-Kiev Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
00:43Given the fact that Patriarch Kirill blessed the killing of Ukrainians and the destruction of Ukrainian statehood,
00:50it is hard to imagine how one can tolerate the activities of this organization on the territory of our Ukraine,
00:57which is suffering from this war.
01:01But for ordinary worshippers who say the Moscow-aligned church they attend does not indulge in politics,
01:07things are likely to get complicated with the new ban.
01:11I'm a believer, I'm Ukrainian, and my ancestors lived here and were in this religion for years.
01:16It cannot be banned, because it belongs to the Lord.
01:19This is the monastery here, and the Lord is above us.
01:26We worry a lot about this, because if they close, people will still pray in the streets.
01:31Maybe we'll put up tents. There will be prayers anyway.
01:36The new Orthodox Church of Ukraine was granted recognition by the Eastern Church's Pope,
01:42the Patriarch of Constantinople, in 2019, three years before the Russian invasion.
01:47But getting people to switch from a church centuries old is unlikely to happen overnight.