OP rep explains what UOC should do "not to suffer"

Oleh Havrysh, the Chief Consultant of the Presidential Office. Photo: uatv.ua

Oleh Havrysh, the Chief Consultant of the Presidential Office, stated that the UOC needs to take specific actions to support Ukraine and its pro-Ukrainian parishioners.

The official wrote on his Facebook page that he doesn't engage in state politics in the church field, but in his opinion, "the UOC currently finds itself in a rather complex situation".

“A significant number of UOC parishioners, as well as some bishops and priests, hold pro-Ukrainian views, serve in the army, work for the state or the Ukrainian economy, and have not fled but courageously defended the country. Many of them are patriots and have pro-Ukrainian sentiments,” Havrysh believes.

He wrote that for these people "to leave the Church means to directly violate the New Testament, namely, ‘not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some' (Hebrews 10:25) (Christians have different views on this issue, but those who sincerely believe in this way according to their conscience cannot be condemned for it)."

He is sure that "all these people are strongly opposed to Russia, its satanic authorities and the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church and the so-called Patriarch Kirill."

"In this regard, of course, everything that is happening to the UOC now hurts pro-Ukrainian parishioners," Havrysh writes, emphasising that "we are talking about Ukrainian citizens who are in favour of our country but are parishioners of the UOC".

In his opinion, "in order, first of all, to support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, as well as its pro-Ukrainian parishioners", the Church should "publicly condemn Vladimir Putin and the entire Russian government in the most severe way for the unleashed war".

Furthermore, he suggested that the Church should publicly and unambiguously condemn the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church for its support of the war. Havrysh recommended that the UOC should ban or defrock any priests or bishops found to have connections with Russia, as well as "all those who are under investigation or serving a sentence".

The official believes that the UOC should start negotiations with the OCU on unification. "But personally, I believe that the unification here should be a merger, not a takeover. Why? If only because a takeover will not be perceived by either the priests or the UOC bishops," he writes.

In his opinion, "unification means that the bishops of the OCU and the UOC will unite and elect a new head of the Church".

Ideally, says Havrysh, "both sides are taking the initiative to create a Ukrainian Patriarchate" because "our country deserves its own Orthodox Patriarch", "especially since Romania and Serbia have one as well." "Why doesn’t Ukraine have any yet?" the OP official asks.

He believes that "the leadership of the UOC should have long ago come with such initiatives to the OCU and start negotiations," as well as “make its stance clear to the government".

"The UOC needs to dot all the ‘i’s, finally breaking off relations with the MP. If this is not done, the situation will only worsen. But, most importantly, it will be a betrayal of that part of the flock that really loves Ukraine. And suffers from everything that is happening now in the UOC," concluded Havrysh.

As earlier reported, the Advisor to the head of the President’s Office said that Orthodox services in Ukraine should be conducted exclusively in the Ukrainian language.

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