Novinsky: Borodiansky repeats theses of the old government

Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Vadim Novinsky. Photo: Facebook

The rhetoric of the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Vladimir Borodiansky about the involuntary renaming of the UOC show that among the representatives of the new government there are those who continue to think like the former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, the MP Vadim Novinsky wrote on his Facebook page.

According to Novinsky, Borodiansky’s statements showed that in the current government “there are quite many those who continue to think in the spirit of Poroshenko’s policy based on extreme nationalism, militarism, and attempts of gross state interference in the affairs of the Church.”

“Borodiansky repeats the theses of the old authorities that the UOC is connected with the aggressor state, and therefore should indicate in its name a direct dependence on the Moscow Patriarchate,” Novinsky noted.

The politician noted that the new minister forgot about the credit of trust that he and his party received from the people during the 2019 election campaign.

“By voting for Vladimir Zelensky and his party, the people voted primarily for the restoration of civil peace, for ending the policy of dividing Ukrainians into the "right" and the "wrong", against persecution on the language or religious basis. Only a few months later, the Minister of Government of the “Servant of the People” spoke with the words of Petro Poroshenko,” the MP said.

He explained that peace and stability will come to Ukraine only when the authorities act in the constitutional field.

“I believe that such rhetoric (the rhetoric of Borodiansky – Ed.) leads to extremely dangerous consequences, it may result in a new wave of confrontation in society,” Novinsky said. “Only a return to the constitutional field, only the cessation of attempts by the state to exert pressure on canonical Orthodoxy, the abolition of discriminatory laws can become a guarantee of peace and stability in Ukraine.”

The people’s deputy called on the President of Ukraine, the Prime Minister and members of the “Servant of the People” party to give their assessment to the rash and provocative statements of Borodшansky.

We recall that the Minister of Culture of Ukraine gave an interview to the Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU), in which he stated that it’s not a priest’s function to decide who is a parishioner. He also supported the law on the involuntary renaming of the UOC.

“We understand that the centre of influence on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is located in Russia, in Moscow,” the head of the ministry said. “Of course, Ukraine must somehow take this into account. And I consider the principle that the Church should identify in its name that it refers to the Russian Orthodox Church is an understandable norm that simply determines who is who. Everyone should understand that the center of influence on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is in Moscow – through the same Synod.”

According to Borodiansky, it is “bad” when a clergyman of a church does not consider members of a territorial community to be members of a religious community. “If a believer decided that he is by some percentage related to this religious organization, then he can already, in my opinion, vote and decide how this community will further live,” he said.

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