UOC rep: Discrimination against Church harms Ukraine’s unity & conciliarity

Cross Procession of the UOC on July 27, 2019. Photo: Archpriest Nikolay Danilevich’s page on Facebook

The most important thing that needs to be done for the unity of the people in Ukraine is not to do anything that would threaten this unity. Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, deputy head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, wrote about this on his Facebook page on the occasion of the celebration of Unity Day (Den Sobornosti) in Ukraine.

Noting that in the secular sphere the word “conciliarity” is commonly understood as a synonym for unity, the UOC spokesperson clarified that “the unity of the people (political nation) is what every state needs and many states in the world do not have this unity”.

“Ukraine also needs unity. However, there is no such unity. Society is polarized, the Church is divided. What to do to have this unity? Most importantly, nothing should be done that would threaten this unity,” the priest emphasized.

He explained that “in the church sphere there is a very dangerous thing that destroys the very possibility of national unity / Sobornost’ – the law on renaming the UOC into the so-called ‘ROC in Ukraine’”, and recalled that “from the point of view of the state, all believers of different Churches are at the same time citizens of Ukraine”.

At the same time, he noted, the UOC is still the largest denomination in terms of the number of "real believers, not supporters" and it includes "the same Ukrainians, the same citizens of Ukraine, as well as those of the OCU, UGCC and other confessions", who, with the help of the aforementioned law, "they want to label or informally declare as enemies or second-rate people in their own country, attributing them to the Russian Orthodox Church or to the RF."

In his opinion, the introduction of the provisions of the law on renaming the communities of the UOC into the draft law "On State Policy of the Transitional Period" regarding the future transitional period for the de-occupied territories of the Donbass and the Crimea will also not facilitate the return of people, and “whether someone likes it or not, the UOC is the only Ukrainian social and religious structure that is fully present there, and it is with the name of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church".

“How will this law affect the identity of those millions of Ukrainians who belong to the UOC throughout the country, who speak Ukrainian, sing Ukrainian songs, carols, pay taxes, serve in the army, die in the war ...? The situation is the same with Russian-speaking Ukrainians. All of them (both Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking) politically feel Ukrainian, associate themselves with Ukraine. They don't feel Russian. Not at all. Ukrainians. And they are actually forced to be called "Russians in Ukraine", to belong to the mythical "ROC in Ukraine" and the like. Is it not by such actions that the state is pushing all these people into the arms of the Russian Federation? For what? Will this contribute to the conciliarity and unity of Ukraine? " - stressed the speaker of the UOC.

“Thus, there is a stigmatization of a significant part of our citizens who belong to the UOC,” he continued. “The law seems to say: they are enemies. I understand why this is necessary and what is the benefit for the OCU. But I don't understand why this is necessary and what is the benefit for the state? Or, more precisely, for the unity of the nation. A political Ukrainian nation. Ukraine is diverse. And that's a fact. Therefore, the words of President V. Zelensky: "We are all Ukrainians, regardless of what language we speak and what church we go to," "we are different but equal," are exact in terms of stating the fact and the direction of the future development and consolidation of the nation."

The clergyman is convinced that "we, building our Ukrainian political nation, must not make enemies and stigmatize a significant part of our fellow citizens, the same Ukrainians".

“Therefore, the ideology that the OCU and its sympathizers propagate politically harms the unity and conciliarity of the country,” Fr. Nikolay. “This ideology destroys the very possibility of nation consolidation. Therefore, this ideology should be abandoned. The state should not support it. Because this ideology leads to constant conflicts, confessional and civil confrontation. All this should be changed. We should talk about inclusive things, look for unifying ideas, and not an exclusive like "who does not jump is a Muscovite". There have been such attempts in the words and ideas of President V. Zelensky, simply because there is no other way out. An alternative is conflicts, division, tension, confrontation. We don’t need that.”

He stressed that “we as a state and a nation must accept the fact that both the believers of the OCU and the believers of the UOC are Ukrainians. All. It is a fact. And from this start building a nation. Changing the name of the UOC will not result in its faithful moving to the OCU. This will not happen, because people in the Church are guided not by national but by religious motives. But this will definitely harm our state."

In the development of the state, it is necessary to rise above these divisions "and not to bring them to the national level, while also securing them in state laws," added the Deputy Head of the UOC DECR.

“The aforementioned laws should be cancelled, people should be made to feel like full-fledged citizens who would believe in Ukraine and jointly build a nation. Only then will the Day of Unity of Ukraine be not only another public holiday, often far from an ordinary person, but can become a reality close to every citizen," he stressed.

As reported earlier, the draft law on "transitional period" for the Donbass includes renaming the UOC.

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