OCU: Christ’s commandment to love one’s enemies does not apply to Russians

"Hierarch" of the OCU I. Yaremenko. Photo: OCU

In a video titled “I Am a Chaplain,” published on the OCU’s YouTube channel, Cherkasy “Metropolitan” Ioann Yaremenko explained how his structure understands Christ’s words about loving one’s enemies.

Yaremenko asserted that this commandment concerns only relationships among Ukrainians themselves.

“The commandment ‘love your enemies’ pertains specifically to hostility among your own, meaning Ukrainians with whom you have quarreled, yet whom you must love. In this way you will find a means to resolve conflicts, overcome enmity, and again become brothers – Ukrainians,” the “hierarch” said, emphasizing that these Gospel words cannot be applied to Russians.

“If the enemy has come with a weapon to kill, this commandment is not applicable to such a situation. This is evil, which can and must be stopped, because if we do not stop it, it will spread. It will go beyond the borders of Ukraine, into Europe, into the entire world. Our mission is to stop this evil with arms, destroying the enemy,” Yaremenko declared.

He expressed certainty that killing a Russian is “by no means a sin.”

“If someone, having killed an enemy, feels pangs of conscience, our task is to reassure such a person and explain that this is not a sin, but rather a sacred duty. People were coming to me with such questions already in 2014. I remember the first such question came from a sniper. I explained and clarified things to him, because his conscience was gnawing at him – he was killing, he had tally marks on his rifle. The man needed an explanation,” Yaremenko said.

Earlier the UOJ quoted the words of “Metropolitan” Mykhailo Zinkevych: “In the OCU we love only those who love us; the rest – if we don’t shoot them first.”

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