Not Christ but language: "hierarch" of OCU explains its mission in Ukraine

Dmitry Rudyuk. Photo: velychlviv.com

"Metropolitan" of Lviv of the OCU Dmitry Rudyuk said that the issue of the Ukrainian language is one of the types of the OCU mission in relation to Russian-speaking Ukrainians, according to the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

In an interview with the newspaper, Rudyuk noted that "the language issue is being very artificially inflated in Ukraine." According to him, "Ukrainization is considered to be discrimination against those who do not want it." However, according to the "hierarch" of the OCU, he "felt oppressed as Ukrainian-speaking for most of his life."

“Our Russian-speaking fellow citizens need to understand that the movement of the state towards Ukrainization is a blessing for them as well,” assures Rudyuk.

He stressed that the OCU raises "the issue of the Ukrainian language as one of the types of our mission in relation to, among other things, Russian-speaking Ukrainians." It is through the divine service, according to the "metropolitan", that the Ukrainian language should become "closer" to the Russian-speaking citizens of the country.

The “hierarch” also noted that the OCU “a very long time ago” assumed the “function of Ukrainization, which is one of the most significant factors in the Ukrainianization of the state," he summed up.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the "metropolitan" of the Kyiv Patriarchate (and now the "hierarch" of the OCU) Mikhail Zinkevich canonized the UPA warriors.

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