Bp. Victor: Head of Phanar never, not once, condemned violence against UOC

Bishop Victor (Kotsaba). Photo: facebook.com/V.D.Kotsaba

The head of Phanar, Patriarch Bartholomew, has never publicly condemned acts of violence, slander and malice his spiritual children from the OCU commit against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Bishop Victor (Kotsaba) of Baryshevka said in an interview with news-politics.com.

There is a reason why believers of the UOC are opposed to the visit of the head of Phanar to Ukraine: this visit will cause suffering to millions of Orthodox Ukrainians, Vladyka Victor noted.

“Concerns have been repeatedly expressed that after the arrival of the Patriarch of Constantinople, we may see a change in the political vector and a return to the course embarked by the previous government of the country before 2019,” said the hierarch of the UOC. "This means that the number of raider seizures of our temples may significantly increase alongside the level of violence against the UOC."

According to Bishop Victor, the arrival of Patriarch Bartholomew will be perceived by the nationalist radical forces as a call to action and the head of the Phanar cannot but understand this.

“If he speaks of love for all Ukrainians, then he should refrain from the planned visit,” Vladyka emphasized.

On the other hand, the head of the Patriarchate of Constantinople [...] could publicly condemn acts of violence against the UOC, call on his spiritual children from the OCU to stop the vicious practice of seizing churches, beating up UOC believers, to halt the flow of insults, slander and malice directed at our Church – but he never did this."

Therefore, the hierarch of the UOC emphasized, the arrival of the head of Phanar cannot evoke approval from millions of believers in our Church.

“Nevertheless, we still hope that having carefully studied the real, rather than the virtual situation in Ukraine, the head of the Church of Constantinople will make a sensible decision so as not to exacerbate the existing problems in the religious life of our country,” Bishop Victor summed up.

As the UOJ reported, according to the expert, the visit of the head of Phanar is an invasion of the canonical territory of the UOC.

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