Kiev, October 23, 2023
Photo: news.church.ua
The Orthodox Church is a Church of love, thus, no matter what happens to it, the Ukrainian people will continue to love everyone, the Ukrainian Orthodox primate said in his homily yesterday.
Commenting on the recent vote of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) on the first reading of a bill aimed at banning holy Orthodoxy in Ukraine, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, the beloved primate of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine, encouraged his flock to maintain a Christian stance of love.
“What can be said about it? I’ll say one thing—we don’t take offense at anyone,” His Beatitude emphasized, reports the Information-Education Department of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Rada Deputies voted 267-15 on Thursday in favor of a bill aimed at banning the UOC on a federal level. The UOC’s Legal Department emphasizes that there must still be a second reading before the bill becomes law.
Met. Onuphry added:
No matter what they do to us, whatever decisions they make, we will still love everyone. We will love God, we will love our land, our people, our authorities, our military. We will love all people and pray for them because our Church is a Church of love. It was founded by God, Who is Love Himself.
The Ukrainian primate also emphasizes that the Church is governed “from the holy city of Kiev.”
“Everyone is looking for the spiritual center where we’re governed from, and it exists, but it’s in Heaven. There is the Founder and Head of our Church—our Lord Jesus Christ.”
His Beatitude’s attitude contrasts starkly with that of the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” which was created by the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Ukrainian and American governments as a rival to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (which has existed in Ukraine for 1,000 years), and which has violently stolen hundreds of churches since its creation in 2018, often inflicting physical damage upon bishops, priests, and laity, including women.
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