"Laity" sends an open letter to Advisor to the Head of President's Office

Advisor to the OP Head Mikhail Podoliak. Photo: vestiukraine.livejournal.com

The head of the public organization "Miriane" Vasily Makarovsky turned to the Adviser to the Head of the President's Office with an open letter, where he spoke about the essence of the prayer standing at the Verkhovna Rada and expressed gratitude to Mikhail Podolyak for clarifying the position of President Vladimir Zelensky.

The UOJ quotes the text of an open letter from NGO "Miriane" to the Adviser to the Head of the President's Office, Mikhail Podoliak.

Dear Mikhail Mikhailovich!

On June 15, 2021, twenty thousand laity of the UOC gathered on the square in front of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for a prayer service for peace in Ukraine. People came from different parts of our country to defend their rights and hand over to the MPs of Ukraine appeals with prepared bills to annul the anti-church amendments in legislation, which were adopted during the time of President Poroshenko.

After the prayer service, the laity went to the Office of the President in a cross procession, demanding that the latter support the people's bills, and also withdrew his invitation to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to Ukraine, as this violates the equality of religious confessions in Ukraine and threatens peace and tranquility in our country.

After that, the President of Ukraine, commenting on the mass actions on that day, in a rather harsh form stated that the event near the Verkhovna Rada had a staged format and was paid for, mentioning the Church in this remark. “Something is wrong in the church again” sounded in the same context with “... thousands of grannies came in yellow OPZZh caps. Well, what does it look like?"

This remark of the president was perceived by the Orthodox community as a reaction to our event and, to put it mildly, surprised the society. It seemed that the president did not distinguish, blended into one and simultaneously criticized the standing of the laymen of the UOC and the other action, which was later carried out by the indicated political force. This upset the believers, as it showed the president's poor awareness of the large-scale action and its essence. The tone of this statement could also have seemed unacceptably casual about the sensitive issue of religious feelings.

However, you publicly explained very timely that such a harsh reaction of the president was not targeted at the prayer of the Orthodox, but at the action of a political party, which was held near the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine after the standing of the laity, while the president has no complaints about the prayer service of Orthodox believers.

We are grateful to you for clarifying the position of the President of Ukraine and we are sure that it was you who helped take to shape. We are sure that the President hears you.

We are publicly addressing you, Mikhail Mikhailovich, with a request to find an hour-slot of your working time to meet with representatives of the laity, who will personally convey to you the essence of the demands of the UOC believers to the President of Ukraine.

Thank you in advance for your openness.

Yours sincerely,

Vasily Makarovsky, Chairman of the NGO “Miriane”

16 June 2021.

On June 15, 20,000 believers of the UOC held a prayer standing at the Verkhovna Rada, where they passed two bills in defense of the UOC and also held a procession to the Office of Vladimir Zelensky.

On the same day, President Vladimir Zelensky, speaking at the All-Ukrainian Forum “Ukraine.30”, commented on the prayer standing of the UOC believers near the Verkhovna Rada with the words “Something is wrong in the church again,” confusing it with the rally of the OPZZh.

As the UOJ previously reported, the OP tried to justify Zelensky for the "yellow caps" with regard to the believers of the UOC.

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