A loud scandal in Lviv: the local Metropolitan of the Roman Catholic Church, Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki, in an interview with the Polish weekly Niedziela, said that the war in Donbass is a sign from God that “the Ukrainian people still bear the sin of genocide.”
“The Ukrainian people continue to bear the sin of genocide, which is still difficult for them to admit and from which it is difficult to cleanse themselves, although several such attempts have been made, in particular, during the 70th anniversary of the tragedy in Volyn,” Ukrainian historian Andrey quoted the text of the interview as saying. Pavlyshyn, reports the Lviv portal Zaxid.net
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These words of the Catholic clergyman caused a protest from ATO militants.
“For what sins did the Lord send the Lvov Roman Catholics an idiot metropolitan? I hope the Ukrainian authorities will not make you wait long to expel this Mokrzycki from the country. Perhaps Ukrainian Catholics will be able to explain to the Pope that Ukrainians should be appointed bishops in Ukraine,” said Ukrainian nationalist Dmitry Korchinsky.
The violent reaction of the Ukrainian right forced Catholics to publish a special statement.
“The Archbishop’s Secretariat certifies that the Archbishop never claimed, as has been attributed to him, that the events that are taking place in the Donbass, Crimea or anywhere else are punishment for the sin of genocide committed by representatives of Ukrainian nationality against the Polish population of Volyn in 1943,” - says the official statement.
However, Mokrzycki’s secretariat argues that “the Metropolitan’s words that it is necessary to express regret and apologize for sin must be understood in a religious context, because the word “sin” functions only in this context. We direct regret and a request for forgiveness first of all to God, but the Gospel points to the need first in such a case to be reconciled with the brother.”