“We are ready for martyrdom. We remain with the Russian Orthodox Church” - Archbishop of the UOC
Due to the fact that the UOC is an integral canonical part of the Russian Orthodox Church, persecution by the Ukrainian state will most likely not stop at all.
Participants at a press conference in Kyiv spoke about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Still, the UOC is an integral canonical part of the Russian Orthodox Church, and not a single statesman of Ukraine, not a single “patriot” of Ukraine will ever come to terms with this. And this also generates a wave of attacks on the church, which will obviously continue. Now we have a short pause, a respite, which has nothing to do with Poroshenko’s personality or is connected extremely minimally. Tomorrow, the same Zelensky may unleash another wave of persecution of the church, even more harsh, arrogant and limitless than it was several years ago, or his successor will do it. That is, it’s a matter of time, but this, unfortunately, is inevitable,” said Ukrainian political scientist Sergei Belashko.
“We understand perfectly well that these persecutions against us will most likely not stop at all, you said correctly,” Archbishop Nikolai of the UOC (in the world Alexander Pochtovyi) agreed with the expert. “But we are ready for martyrdom.”
“The Church has always been ready for martyrdom. But if you look at those empires and countries that persecuted churches, where are they? Where is that Roman Empire? Where is the Soviet Union? I would very much like this sad fate not to befall Ukraine,” the bishop added.
He noted that when speaking about the fact that the religious center of the UOC is located in Russia, no one read the Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church.
“The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is a self-governing church within the Russian Orthodox Church, we are completely independent in management. But we will still have a spiritual connection, and nothing can be done about it. We maintain this spiritual connection with all Orthodox churches, because, in fact, there is one Cathedral Orthodox Church, and its constituent parts were, will be, and they will not go anywhere,” the priest emphasized.
“What the state wanted to do with us - transfer control from the Moscow Patriarchate to the Constantinople Patriarchate - well, that didn’t work out. And it will never work,” Archbishop Nikolai assured.
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