UGCC and OCU reps quarrel over Kuntsevich

The OCU considers Kuntsevich a maniac, Uniates – a symbol of the entire UGCC. Photo: ikonopys

OCU cleric Viktor Martynenko, who regularly serves with the Phanar's exarch in Kyiv, expressed perplexity on his Facebook page that the head of the UGCC S. Shevchuk called Kuntsevich "an apostle of unity". In his opinion, Kuntsevich's place is in history, not in the church calendar.

"A fanatic, whose manic cruelty surprised even like-minded people, is honoured today as an 'apostle of unity'." Are you serious? Someone who, out of hatred for the Orthodox, even dug up the dead and threw them to the dogs, is an "apostle of unity"? Persecution, pogroms, religious intolerance, abuse of holy sites – this is the legacy of the flighty archbishop of Polotsk. Do we really need him now?" wrote Martynenko.

His post sparked outrage in the comments from representatives of the UGCC.

Theologian and very well-known in Lviv Greek Catholic priest Yuriy (Yustyn) Boyko said that Kuntsevich "is a symbol of the entire UGCC".

"You are stirring up the opening of the second church front. Now with the UGCC. And this is very offensive and dangerous, especially when it comes to the saint whose memory has been honoured for centuries," Boyko wrote to Martynenko and wished him that "in the new body of the OCU, a new spirit of the OCU rather than ROC or UOC-MP should live".

In turn, a religious scholar and OCU supporter (formerly a member of the UGCC) said that the cult of Kuntsevich in the UGCC is "anti-Orthodox" but the Uniates "have never felt this, not at all."

Earlier, Shevchuk called Kuntsevich, who persecuted the Orthodox, "an apostle of unity".

Read also