Dumenko calls kissing a priest's hand a "slavish Russian tradition"
Epiphanius Dimitriou is slavishly kissing the hand of Epiphanius Dumenko. Photo: the OCU website
Serhiy Dumenko in an interview with TSN said that the OCU refused to kiss the hand of the clergyman.
Answering the journalist's question if he was outraged that he was not kissed on the hand, Dumenko replied that this is a Russian slave tradition, and the OCU will not have it.
"It is more, you see, a tradition, and a Russian tradition in which the believer as a subordinate must bow to the master and kiss his hand. This is a certain domination over believers, (demonstration - Ed.) that believers are submissive slaves. And we are moving away from this tradition, because we are, according to Christ, friends," said Dumenko.
As reported, OCU "priests" unable to cross themselves correctly were disgraced at the raided UOC church in Ladyzhyn.
Read also
Mobilized priest of Volodymyr-Volynsky Eparchy of UOC killed
A funeral service for Fr Andrii Korynchuk, a priest killed in the war, to be held at UOC Resurrection Cathedral in Kovel.
TRC officers draft UOC priest in Chernihiv
TRC officers have detain Archpriest Pavlo Tovstohon of the Christ's Nativity Church.
Patriarch Bartholomew and Shevchuk discuss obstacles to ecumenical unity
The head of the UGCC said that replacing Christian patriotism with the idea of loyalty to a "warring god" is an obstacle to ecumenical dialogue.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry plans advocacy visits abroad for UCCRO
Members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations have planned advocacy visits abroad following a meeting with Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister.
UOC priest detained by recruitment officers in Kyiv sent to training ground
UOC priest Maksym Kostiuchenko, who was detained on his way to a church service in Kyiv, has been sent to a military training ground in Chernihiv Region.
25 tons of humanitarian aid from Volyn reach Sviatohirsk Lavra
Around 25 tons of food donated by believers of the UOC Volyn Eparchy arrived at Sviatohirsk Lavra on October 22.