UOC hierarch: If OCU stops seizing temples, there will be no conflicts

Metropolitan Clement (Vecheria). Photo: news.church.ua

The chairman of the Synodal Information and Education Department of the UOC, Metropolitan Clement (Vecheria) of Nizhyn and Pryluky, explained on the air of UA:Pershyi TV that the conflicts with the OCU are caused by the fact that the latter seize the temples of another denomination instead of building their own ones.

"Those who call themselves members of the ‘Holy Church of Ukraine’ or ‘Orthodox Church of Ukraine’, or whatever it is, believe for some reason that in order to perform their worship and ensure their religious beliefs, it is necessary to take away someone's temple," said Bishop Clement. "Conflicts are usually not about forcing someone to be in a particular denomination, but because someone does not want to bother to build their own chapel or temple but thinks that it is easier to just grab the one that doesn’t belong to them.”

The hierarch said that most parishes of the UOC have built their own churches, so newly established parishes of certain religious organizations should also act properly. "I wonder why such a position is not taken into account. If there is a community, if there is a newly created church that did not exist in a particular village, let them build a temple, as most of our communities did, so there would be no conflicts," Bishop Clement concluded.

As the UOJ reported, according to Metropolitan Clement, Drabinko personally proved that the OCU cannot be a Church. 

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