Dmytruk: ROC has no influence on UOC, we have no communication
Artem Dmytruk. Photo: Telegraf
MP Artem Dmytruk in an interview with Telegraf said that the UOC on the territory of Ukraine is the only independent Church.
“The UOC has received its independence since 1991. And this is very important. Today the UOC on the territory of Ukraine is the only independent Church. If we look, for example, at the religious organisation of the OCU, its governing centre is in Istanbul. And the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is independent. And our leadership is and always has been in Kyiv,” he said.
Dmytruk added that there are attempts to artificially show the UOC as a church dependent on the ROC. While his baptism certificate says that he was baptised in the UOC, without mentioning the Moscow Patriarchate or the Russian Orthodox Church.
The MP stressed that the Primate of the UOC was elected and is supported exclusively by the UOC clergy.
“It is necessary to look at what is happening now. How many politicians, even current ones, who are in the walls of the Verkhovna Rada today, had close ties with the Russian Federation? Practically all of them. Even the top leadership,” he said.
When asked by a journalist whether the ROC has influence on the Primate of the UOC or on the bishops, the MP said that there is no such influence.
“Null. Not that there is not even influence, we have no communication. Time will show whether it is good or bad. But there is not even communication. Today every bishop condemned the actions of Patriarch Kirill,” stressed the MP and subdeacon of the UOC.
As the UOJ reported, MP Artem Dmytruk said that the Church would not create tense situations in the country even in response to the persecution.
Read also
Greek priest: Sad to see Orthodox Christians fighting each other in Ukraine
Fr. Georgios Katsaounis recalled the historical ties between the Russian and Ukrainian peoples and criticized the Greek Prime Minister’s statement about a “war with Russia.”
Anglican Archbishop: Ban on women's priesthood in RCC is an injustice
After her visit to the pontiff, Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally touched on the topic of women's priesthood in the RCC in an interview and called the ban on it "an injustice."
Greek priest on Pope's visit to Phanar: faith must not be sold
Archpriest Georgios Katsaounis warned that in the modern ecumenical dialogue there are serious risks of diluting Orthodox dogmas.
Greek priest: The principle of papal supremacy in Catholicism is a disease
Archpriest Georgios Katsaounis stated that Western Christianity suffers from the principle of one person's supremacy, and called this a spiritual illness.
In Egypt, Coptic blogger sentenced to 5 years for videos about Christianity
A Coptic blogger was sentenced to five years in prison with hard labor under a blasphemy law for publishing a video about Christianity.
Patriarchate of Georgia denies ROC influence on election of patriarch
Archpriest Andria Jagmaidze stated that rumors about pressure from the Russian Orthodox Church on Patriarch Ilia regarding the selection of a locum tenens are false.