After war, UOC’s role will be unique – protodeacon

A UOC cross procession on the Day of the Baptism of Rus in 2021. Photo: open sources

UOC Protodeacon Vadym Novynskyi said that after the war ends in Ukraine, the country will enter “the most difficult period,” and that the role of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church at that time will be “unique and decisive.”

According to the clergyman, once the fighting is over, Ukraine will inevitably face an internal conflict – a “mental war” between different groups within society.

“The most important thing that will have to be done is to bring people back to peace with one another, because inside Ukraine there will be a war – I mean a mental war: between those who fought and those who did not; those who speak Russian and those who speak Ukrainian; those who go to one church and those who go to another; those who lived abroad and those who remained in Ukraine,” Fr. Vadym said.

He is convinced that neither psychologists nor secular institutions will be able to meet this challenge – only the Church can.

“In this situation, of course, the UOC will have a truly unique and decisive role in making our society calm and capable of living and prospering further. There is no alternative. No psychologists will help. I place my hope only in God’s help in all these crucial matters,” Fr. Vadym said.

The clergyman also stressed that peace, when the guns fall silent, will be only “the first step”: “An enormous amount of work will still lie ahead to bring peace to everyone within the country. The most important thing is that there be peace in people’s hearts. Not hatred, malice, and the desire for revenge, but peace within every Ukrainian. Then there will be peace across the country.”

Earlier, UOJ wrote that, according to Fr. Vadym Novynskyi, Patriarch Bartholomew plays a major role in the persecution of the UOC.

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