Archpriest Vladislav Dikhanov about coronavirus: Don’t lose your human face

Archpriest Vladislav Dikhanov, head of the UOC Synod Department for Social and Humanitarian Affairs. Photo: pravlife.org.

In no case should you lose your human face, said UOC cleric аrchpriest Vladislav Dikhanov during a conversation with a UOJ correspondent of about coronavirus and the panic, which started in Ukraine in connection with this disease.

"It is very sad to see how people react to what is happening. "Somehow brutally. Unfortunately, we are distancing ourselves from humanity. If you follow the news, you must have noticed the level of security that China itself has introduced," the clergy stressed. “People who flew from Wuhan to Ukraine left China after a certain period when some methods of revealing this disease were already developed. Accordingly, they passed some kind of control. That is, at least some minimal credit of trust to these people could have been made.

Archpriest Vladislav reminded us that the Church is the conscience of the people and urged the UOC parishioners to actively engage in the good deed and live preaching of the love of Christ. He also noted that the UOC is ready at any moment to come to the rescue of those who returned to their homeland from Wuhan.

"We are all together – the Body of Christ! If these people need spiritual help, the Church is always in the places where there will be a quarantine zone, ready to provide this help. Priests are always ready to respond in order to support these people spiritually," said UOC cleric.

He reminded the public that Orthodox Christians are called to live in mercy every day, "from morning to night and from night to morning" whatever happens.

Earlier, the spokesman for the Zaporizhzhia Eparchy Archpriest Alexander Ovcharenko called on the Ukrainians evacuated from China not to be afraid and to forgive all those who responded to their return with mass protests.

Read also