OCU calls for more tolerant attitude towards TRC employees

An OCU cleric: Those who hate the TRC do not respect their army. Photo: Facebook video

Clerics of the OCU have criticized Ukrainians who treat TRC (Territorial Recruitment Center – Trans.) representatives badly. A priest from the structure of Metropolitan Epifaniy, during the funeral of a soldier in Bukovyna, stated that "those who hate the TRC do not respect their army". A video of this "sermon", which triggered a wave of angry comments, was posted by OCU cleric Roman Hryshchuk on his Facebook page on 13 December.

The OCU priest reproached his audience for the fact that videos showing TRC representatives in a negative light were gaining millions of views. According to him, such interest from Ukrainians in the behavior of TRC officers reflected their lack of patriotism.

He also mentioned that the soldier, Dmytro, who was being buried that day, had once served in the ranks of the TRC, and claimed that 90% of soldiers like him had served there. The cleric argued that most TRC workers had served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces but were discharged for various reasons. However, they had given their health and even their lives for the Motherland.

In response to these statements, the OCU priest was labelled a propagandist in the comments.

"As a priest, you should pray for the soul of the fallen soldier, not use the funeral as a platform for your propaganda," wrote Halyna.

"These are no longer righteous priests. They've switched sides. Priests should be praying, not promoting propaganda, if they're true priests," said Olena.

"TRC and the AFU are two different things," added Oleksandr.

"People are grieving, and he’s talking about something else. Let him take off his cassock and go fight. People are being beaten, dragged into buses, thus breaking the law. I’m a soldier. The AFU doesn't tolerate or respect the TRC. The laws in our country don't work. Just shut up. You’ve really touched a nerve with me," wrote soldier Hryhoriy.

The "preacher" further incited hatred towards the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He complained that two-thirds of Bukovyna are still "under Moscow's occupation", meaning there are still many UOC temples in the region.

The OCU rep is convinced that criticism of the Ukrainian government, including the TRC, is working in favour of Russia.

"We've forgotten that the TRC is part of our army. Those who hate the TRC do not respect the army that is protecting them. God grant us the wisdom to realise this. These are difficult things, but we must understand them in order to resist Russian propaganda," concluded the cleric from the Dumenko-led structure.

As the UOJ wrote, the OCU accused the “Moscow priests” of having no interest in politics.

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