RCC hierarch: Joint Christmas of UGCC, RCC and PCU is a political statement

Stanislav Shirokoradiuk. Photo: risu.ua

The Roman Catholic bishop of Odesa, Stanislav Shirokoradiuk, has called the joint celebration of Christmas in the new style on 25 December by representatives of the RCC, UGCC, OCU and Protestants "a political statement".

In an interview with German radio Ö1 during the Religion aktuell programme, Shirokoradiuk said that the first joint celebration of Christmas "by Ukraine's Christian Churches is a good sign for the country", which is in the midst of an ongoing difficult military situation.

"Thank God that the Greek Catholic and Orthodox Churches of Ukraine (OCU – Ed.) celebrated Christmas together with Roman Catholics and Protestants this year, which was also a political statement," Stanislav Shirokoradiuk said.

As earlier reported, the Network showed the empty Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra during the "Christmas service”.

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