Ukrainian RCC bishop to Americans: Many people steal here but not everyone

Kryvytskyi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Photo: Kryvytskyi’s Facebook page

In an interview with Radio NV, Roman Catholic Bishop Vitalii Kryvytskyi spoke about how he responds, during meetings with Americans, to accusations of corruption in Ukraine.

“Regarding corruption in Ukraine, people say it’s everywhere – that it’s all around. People often say, ‘You have corruption.’ I say: please, do not generalize. It’s the same as when we used to say that in the United States everyone eats fast food and everyone smokes marijuana. But that’s not true. Many – yes, but not everyone,” the bishop said, in the context of his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Asked by the host whether corruption scandals involving people close to Zelenskyy weaken support for Ukraine, the bishop answered in the affirmative.

He acknowledged that corruption is eroding support for Ukraine in the United States, because Americans are sensitive to the issue of taxes and understand that assistance to Ukraine is financed from their own funds. “If they pay taxes, they know that aid to Ukraine is also deducted from them. They may say: stop, we don’t want this – someone is stealing our money,” he explained.

The bishop also said that USAID representatives had at one time spoken about mistrust toward certain Ukrainian funds and a desire to cooperate directly with churches: “We have mistrust toward some previous funds, we have evidence of corrupt systems, we want to cooperate with churches.”

According to Kryvytskyi, corruption is a phenomenon that “has always eaten away even at great empires,” and it must be “simply crossed out in our state if we want to remain a people.”

Earlier, the UOJ cited Kryvytskyi’s remarks that UCCRO members abroad assure others that there is no persecution for faith in Ukraine.

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