Authorities mobilize only UOC clergy, this is unfair, priest says

Archpriest Dimitry Stetsko. Photo: Khmelnytskyi Eparchy

The Secretary of the Khmelnytskyi Eparchy of the UOC, Archpriest Dimitry Stetsko, stated in an interview for "Channel 33" about the unjust mobilization of UOC clergy against the backdrop of reservations being granted to other denominations.

According to the clergyman, state officials demonstrate a selective approach in distributing reservation quotas for religious figures. Thus, in the Khmelnytskyi region, 340 representatives of various denominations received a lawful deferment from conscription. Of this number, state bodies granted reservations to 130 clergy of the OCU. At the same time, officials did not recognize UOC parishes as critically important organizations for society.

The eparchial secretary pointed to clear discrimination against believers on confessional grounds. He emphasized that state bodies evaluate not the actual benefit to citizens but only their church affiliation. "The communities of our Church were not recognized as critically important at all. That is, they count denominations, not people. And we unfortunately encounter such injustice," stated Archpriest Dimitry Stetsko.

At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities do not legally permit UOC clergy to serve as chaplains, yet conscript them into the infantry without hindrance. "It turns out that a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is good enough to go into a trench with a weapon in his hands, but not good enough to go to a wounded soldier with a chalice," the eparchial secretary emphasized.

The cleric stressed that the UOC does not demand exclusive rights or privileges for itself. Representatives of the UOC insist only on equal conditions and uniform legal criteria for all citizens of the country.

As the UOJ reported, a new chaplaincy course was introduced at the Kyiv Theological Schools.

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