OCU Claimed That Sex Before Marriage Is Not a Sin

Ruslan Usmedinsky. Photo: screenshot from the YouTube channel "Not a Serious Conversation"

OCU “priest” Ruslan Usmedinsky claimed that sex before marriage, unlike adultery and masturbation, is not a sin. He made this statement on the stand-up show by comedian Dmytro Tyutyun “Not a Serious Conversation.”

Responding to the comedian's question, “why is sex before marriage a sin,” Usmedinsky replied that it is not.

“It is not a sin,” declared the OCU cleric, which provoked delight from Tyutyun and the audience. “Our Orthodox Church never forbids people anything at all. It does not forbid — it simply very insistently recommends abstaining.”

According to him, “sexual life is the foundation of the family; the family is held together by it.”

“As a man, I know that a man cannot live long and remain healthy without a sexual life. It harms his body. And a person cannot do anything that harms his body, because this body was given to him by the Lord. It is, roughly speaking, on lease to him. And if the Lord made this body such that it needs a sexual life, then fulfilling this need is normal,” the OCU cleric shared his thoughts. At the same time, he condemned adultery.

“But when it already crosses into adultery — that is, too much — then it is a sin,” he emphasized. The “priest” also stated that masturbation is sinful.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Usmedinsky “permitted” parishioners to use a priest's cassock for sex games.

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