UOC hierarch comments on appearance of LGBT books in children's libraries

Bishop Victor of Baryshevka. Photo: Facebook page of Bishop Victor

Vicar of the Kyiv Metropolis, Head of the UOC Representation to European International Organizations, Bishop Victor (Kotsaba) of Baryshevka commented on the news about the purchase of books for children's libraries with open propaganda of LGBT relations.

“Recently, the Ukrainian media space was stirred up by the news that the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Institute of Books spent 666 thousand hryvnias of budget funds to purchase books for children that openly promote LGBT relations,” the hierarch wrote in his blog on the website “Ya Korrespondent". “According to Ukrainian officials, the comic book ‘Princess + Princess: Happily Ever After’ is designed to overcome ‘stereotypical ideas’ about relations between people."

The bishop noted that in this case, under "stereotypical ideas", apparently, one should understand a position that does not have a moral and rational explanation for same-sex unions, "which is clearly enshrined in the Holy Scriptures and is traditional for the Ukrainian people."

He emphasized that the initiators of the appearance of such literature in children's libraries use the word “stereotyped” in order to show that any alternative to the LGBT propaganda has a negative slant. However, he added, "stereotype" does not always indicate negative, and in many cases "this word may quite rightly be similar to the term ‘tradition’.”

“Therefore, we approach the book on same-sex relationships mainly through the prism of the struggle against the traditional values of Ukrainians,” the hierarch of the UOC specified. “In this context, the desire to ‘overcome’ things that have been considered normal for centuries is unambiguously interpreted as an aggressive imposition of norms and attitudes that are alien to us. This movement is all the more dangerous because it is directed against children who are just learning to perceive the world and look for their place in it. In this context, the appearance of such books appears as an attempt to gradually form a worldview that is alien to the Christian picture of the world and also attunes a person to rejection of everything that was cultivated by the millennial culture of our people."

According to the clergyman, who did not touch upon "too obvious" moral aspects of such literature, the imposition of such a view of the world cannot be explained by any rational or pragmatic considerations.

“A person is born with inherent sexual characteristics, which are determined not by upbringing or worldview, but entirely by biological factors. And it is very disappointing that there are people in Ukraine who do not understand this common truth. However, it is not this thing that is scary but the fact that these people are trying to impose their vision on everyone else,” summed up Bishop Victor (Kotsaba).

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the Ukrainian government spent budget funds to promote children's LGBT.

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