Mobilized UOC priest refuses military oath, citing vow to Church
UOC priest Serhiy Shcherbyna refused to take the Ukrainian military oath, saying he had already sworn an oath to the Church 14 years ago.
Serhiy Shcherbyna, a mobilized priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, has refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), saying he has already taken a priestly oath to the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
According to Myroslava Berdnyk, who reported the incident on Telegram, the priest was detained by Territorial Recruitment Center (TRC) personnel 10 days ago. He is reportedly being held at a military compound in the settlement of Cherkaske, near Novomoskovsk in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where he has allegedly been subjected to physical abuse.
Asked why he refused to take the military oath, the priest replied:
“I, Serhiy Pavlovych Shcherbyna, a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, refuse to take the oath of allegiance to the people of Ukraine as a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine because I am a priest and took an oath to the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on October 9, 2012.”
As the UOJ previously reported, the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate ruled that the possession and use of weapons by clergy are incompatible with the canons of the Orthodox Church.
