Drabinko on his criticized visit to Poland: I'm ready to answer like Christ

"Bishop" of the OCU Alexander (Drabinko). Photo: Drabinko's Instagram page

"Bishop" of the OCU Alexander (Drabinko) stated that, according to his information, the hierarchs of the Polish Church had appealed to Phanar with a protest about his visit to the country, but he is ready to explain everything.

Drabinko compared himself to Christ and stated that, like the Savior, he was “ready to answer for his every action” and be responsible if “someone in a canonical manner” told him what exactly he was guilty of. “It is similar to how Christ stood at the trial and said: ‘If I said something wrong, testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?’” said the “hierarch” of the OCU.

According to Drabinko, the “hierarch” of the OCU Simeon (Shostatsky) told him about the reaction of the Polish Church in a telephone conversation.

“I don’t know what caused the discontent, what it has to do with, because I had a private visit at the invitation of the public organization Osnova in Poland. These are my friends who asked for a presentation of the Mazepa Gospel,” said the ex-Metropolitan of the UOC.

Drabinko noted that “if the UOJ started writing all this and blaming the Consul General in Krakow, then it’s clear who pulls the strings. Because it's a good event and they're worried about it."

It is noteworthy that recently Drabinko paid two visits to Poland – in January 2022 and in December 2021.

On December 9, 2021, at a meeting with the Consul of Ukraine in Krakow Viacheslav Voinarovsky, Drabinko ostensibly discussed with him the issue of “meeting the spiritual needs of the large Ukrainian community in Poland”, which indicates the not really “private” nature of the “hierarch” of the OCU's visit to Poland. Perhaps it was this statement that caused the reaction of the bishops of the Polish Church.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that Drabinko discussed the “spiritual needs” of Ukrainians with the consul in Poland.

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