Derkach: What will God say to those who cast out “Moskals” in His name?

OCU publicist Tetiana Derkach. Photo: Screenshot from the Viche YouTube channel

Speaking on the Viche YouTube channel, religious commentator and OCU member Tetiana Derkach criticized the events in Chernivtsi.

Commenting on the violence at the Holy Spirit Cathedral, Derkach expressed sympathy “for all people of sound mind, for whom the word ‘Christianity,’ Christian values, and the biblical commandments are not empty words.”

“For them, this was a deeply tragic day, and I know that many people felt shame for those who took part in these events,” the publicist noted.

In Derkach’s view, “The Kyiv Patriarchate did not become the Orthodox Church of Ukraine simply by receiving the Tomos.” According to her, the OCU retains “a limited ecclesiological consciousness and a kind of Christian identity that was genuine in the 1990s.”

“I don’t know what is in the minds of these priests. It seems to me that people are desacralizing both the holy priesthood and, in fact, the Church itself,” she remarked.

At the end of her remarks, Derkach cited the words of Christ from the Gospel of Matthew, adapting them to today’s Ukrainian reality:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me on that day: ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? Did we not cast out demons in Your name?’ – well, meaning Moskals – ‘and perform many miracles in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them: ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who work iniquity.’”

Earlier, the UOJ reported on footage showing OCU clerics bringing militants into the UOC cathedral in Chernivtsi.

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