UOC bishop: Govt's approach to Church is a slap in the face of Lavra saints

Metropolitan Luke (Kovalenko). Photo: the press service of the Zaporizhzhia Eparchy

Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol, called the authorities' ignoring the members of the Holy Synod, crowned with a low-grade show of air alert, is a slap in the face of not only the bishops of the UOC but also Lavra saints, whose holy relics the authorities regard and describe as "museum exhibits”. Vladyka shared his reaction to the incident on his Telegram channel.

"Yesterday's standing in front of the OP is not subservience to power or pleasing someone's interests, it is an example of how one should act as a Christian. The desire for peace is not in words but in deeds. Have modern Nerons ever thought of what would happen if the Kyiv Caves saints take off their prayerful cover over the capital of Ukraine? Did it ever occur to them that intensified persecutions of the Church leads to destructive consequences for the whole country?” asks the metropolitan.

Bishop Luke recommended all those in power to read the book of St. Nicholas of Serbia "War and the Bible".

"It says it all clearly and understandably. In particular: ‘The Lord gives the people peace and prosperity for the sake of virtue of worthy rulers; the Lord guides away those who attack the people and gives them the victory; but if the rulers become proud of their strength, or wisdom, or wealth (which is given to them by God) and fall away from God, the Lord severely punishes both the leaders and the people", - quotes the UOC hierarch.

The metropolitan asks, therefore, whose defeat will be the loss of the UOC of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra? After all, it is known that even the slightest upheaval in the spiritual sphere is a harbinger of great catastrophes and disasters in everyday life.

As reported, on March 20, after the meeting the members of the UOC Holy Synod came to the President’s Office and asked the head of the state for an audience but did not receive it.

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