© SputnikUkrainian Orthodox believers rally against parliament bill, which can deprive the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of its name. Sputnik
Kiev's new law demanding that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church change its name to show affiliation with Moscow is "insane" and may ignite "bloody conflicts," the primate of Russia's Orthodoxy has warned.
Ukraine's parliament recently passed a controversial bill which
basically demands that any religious entity tied to Moscow change its name to reflect this fact. Kiev now wants it to be called the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, requiring the church to make the change within four months.
Commenting on the move, on Wednesday, Patriarch Kirill said the Ukrainian law was "completely insane in terms of modern law" and rules of secular state. In the West in particular, the government has nothing to do with what a church calls itself, he argued.
"When the state invents a name for a religious entity, desiring to discriminate and destroy it, it breaks all rights and laws of a civilized society," the Russian Patriarch said. The government's "openly blatant interference in church affairs" is unparalleled and leads to a "civilizational catastrophe."
Comment: RT adds that the officer requested that the power be cut on the tracks to protect the life of his attacker before helping the man out. A backup unit took five men into custody then released them for medical evaluations. The gang was identified and later booked for breaches of city transit rules but the DA declined to pursue charges. The name of the NYPD hero has not been released.
The NYPD Muslim Officers Society posted a video: