German Protestant theologians speak out in defense of DECR UOC deputy head

Dagmar Heller and Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr. Photo: DECR UOC

Two letters came to the Synodal Department for External Church Relations in defense of the deputy head of the department, Archpriest Mykolay Danylevych, in connection with his criminal prosecution in Ukraine. Support for the UOC spokesperson was expressed by the head of the Institute for the Study of Confessions, scientific consultant for the study of Orthodoxy Dr. Dagmar Heller (city of Bensheim) and Professor of the Theological Faculty of the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena Dr. Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr.

Dr. Dagmar Heller stated that she finds the accusations against Mykolay Danylevych ridiculous and fabricated. She noted that she had never heard of any pro-Russian propaganda in UOC communities in Germany that were founded with the participation of Father Mykolai. War in these communities has always been condemned. The same, Heller emphasized, applies to the personal position of the deputy head of the UOC.

"If he and his parishes outside Ukraine were on Russia's side, they would have joined the existing parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in these countries. But Danylevych and these parishes deliberately separated themselves from the Moscow Patriarchate. And they are not recognized by the diocese of the Patriarchate in Germany," she wrote.

Dr. Heller emphasized that Archpriest Mykolay Danylevych helps find a spiritual home for those refugees who do not want to join the Russian Orthodox Church and have reasons not to join Ukrainian parishes subordinate to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

In turn, Dr. Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr in his letter expressed concern about the accusations made by the Security Service of Ukraine against the UOC spokesperson.

"All members of Ukrainian communities in Germany that I know have expressed their unlimited confidence in Father Mykolay as a faithful pastor of the UOC and a dedicated citizen of Ukraine. His goals, as I have perceived them since we met, have always been guided by his responsibility as a true and faithful pastor for Orthodox Christians of Ukraine seeking spiritual affirmation and pastoral care for the people in their difficult life circumstances as refugees, caused by Russian aggression against their country," he wrote.

German theologians emphasized the role of Archpriest Mykolay Danylevych in attempting to find a way to overcome the schism and called for a fair investigation into his case.

As the UOJ reported, Orthodox youth of Europe spoke out in support of the deputy head of the DECR UOC.

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