Chancellor: We don't understand "brotherhood" that supports Church persecutors

Metropolitan Antony. Photo: Metropolitan;s Facebook

The Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Antony (Pakanych), strongly condemned representatives of church circles who, under the guise of "brotherly love" and "tolerance", maintain relations with the persecutors of the UOC.

In his statement published on August 6, the bishop emphasized that there is a special type of people who "seem to belong to the Church, but at the same time demonstratively and publicly maintain close relations with those who persecute their Church".

"They remain silent when temples are seized by force, when bishops, priests, and laity are beaten, when the clergy are imprisoned. But as soon as any believer expresses outrage at the repressions against their Church, voices from this spectrum immediately call for 'tolerance' and 'love for all'," noted Metropolitan Antony.

The Chancellor of the UOC noted that Christ commanded to love and pray for everyone, including persecutors, "but nowhere did He say to turn a blind eye to injustice and the persecution of one's brothers."

The bishop expressed particular criticism toward various organizations and "brotherhoods" that hold conferences together with those "who seek to destroy our Church". According to him, such events are dominated by a "hypocritical spirit of 'mutual understanding,'" while outside, there is "real robbery and raider seizures with beatings of UOC believers."

The Metropolitan expressed concern about the participation of priests and monastics in such events, who may "naively believe" that they can change the situation for the better by communicating with representatives of anti-Church structures.

The bishop reminded of the imprisonment of the abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra, Metropolitan Arseniy, the seizures and desecrations of shrines, and the persecution of the clergy and believers. In these conditions, the advocates of the supposed "brotherly love" only "nod in agreement with the persecutors" and "awkwardly nod their heads at the reproaches" that the UOC itself is to blame for such treatment.

In conclusion, the UOC Chancellor called to "intensify prayers" for all brethren enduring persecution for their faith and asked the Lord "not to allow a departure from church rules and the holy fathers' Tradition."

Earlier, the UOJ analyzed why participants in the "interchurch dialogue" from the UOC have views similar to those of the OCU.

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