OCU “hierarch”: We are not ready to work with Russian-speaking flock

Dmitry Rudiuk. Photo: tvoemisto.tv

"Metropolitan" Dmitry Rudiuk of Lviv (OCU) said that his religious structure is not ready to work with the Russian-speaking flock, reports the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

He acknowledged that in the OCU there is a need to deal more with the Russian-speaking Orthodox community in Ukraine but noted that his religious structure "should to find a method of working with that group".

Rudiuk said that the OCU "is not opposed to some parishes serving in Church Slavonic", and the schismatics "have such parishes, only they are few".

The "hierarch" of the OCU said that there is a division in Ukraine "on the basis of national identity". According to him, "those parishioners who deliberately belong to the Moscow Patriarchate, in one way or another, are guided by the tradition of Russian Orthodoxy."

“Whether we want it or not, every Orthodox tradition has national characteristics. They are first of all striking and sometimes prevail over the doctrine and canons ...,” believes Rudiuk.

He noted that "the language factor should be taken into account, but it is not as pressing as it is believed in Russia." “Where the Russian-speaking population prevails in our country, the language of worship can remain the same as it has been before.” But, according to Rudiuk, “it would probably be good if there were polls among parishioners in the parishes, including on the choice of the language”.

Rudyuk said that while “the bar of national identity has been raised high in Ukraine”, it will be “rather difficult” to open some special departments in seminaries or academies to train those who will work with the Russian-speaking flock because "those who hold national positions will always set the tone.”

Earlier, "Metropolitan" Dmitry Rudiuk of Lviv (OCU) said that the issue of the Ukrainian language is one of the types of the OCU's mission in relation to Russian-speaking Ukrainians.

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