OP spokesman: There will be OCU in Ukraine, only OCU
Mykhaylo Podolyak. Photo: Army inform
Only the Orthodox Church of Ukraine will exist in Ukraine. On March 30, 2023, Mykhaylo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the President's Office, announced this on the air of Channel 24.
“We will reach the right ending. The UOC will lose all opportunities to influence the inner world of Ukraine. The UOC will gradually leave for Russian cities and do something there. In the long run, there will be an OCU, only an OCU in Ukraine,” Podolyak said.
He expressed his conviction that only the OCU should remain in the country, because the UOC is guilty of the war in Ukraine.
“I reiterate that there should be a single Ukrainian canonical Church in Ukraine. By the way, Bartholomew, the Patriarch of Constantinople, constantly speaks about this. He clearly stated that the ROC (and hence the UOC-MP) are just as guilty of the genocidal war of Russia against Ukraine,” Podolyak said.
Commenting on the conflict around the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, he stated that "the UOC once again showed its true face." Podolyak said that “even in the course of the war, what they said, especially at the beginning of the war, viz. ‘we separated from the ROC, we do not support those calls of the ROC to kill Ukrainians’ and so on, that all this is fiction.”
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that according to Podolyak, the UOC took a position in relation to the war that is fundamentally different from the ROC: “There is the ROC, which, of course, supported Russian aggression, but as for those confessions that are in Ukraine, these are somewhat different confessions, including the UOC. She took a different position, and this is a lot of people who listen to priests, etc. People will make all decisions, and I think they have already made. Including the UOC that made all the decisions only to benefit Ukraine.”
Read also
Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi: The time has come to build the Third Temple
The spiritual leader of Ukraine’s Jewish community commented on Tucker Carlson’s claims about the religious motives behind the war in the Middle East.
US bars removal of children from parents who reject gender transition
U.S. authorities have affirmed the right of families to raise their children in accordance with their religious convictions and biblical understanding of sex.
DESS draws parallels between liquidation of UGCC and present day
An event in Kyiv marked the 80th anniversary of the Lviv Council, at which a decision was taken to dissolve the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Bulgarian Church warns of sectarian threat after mass suicide
The Lovech Eparchy of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has issued a warning following the tragedy of a mass suicide involving sect members near the Petrohan Pass.
UN reports violations of rights of believers and communities in Ukraine
A UN document points to pressure on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, attempts to ban it through the courts, and cases of forcible church seizures.
Middle East Council of Churches calls for protection of Christians in the region
Christian churches in the Middle East warned of growing threats to the region’s Christian communities and a worsening humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, urging the international community to step up support.