Met. Anthony: President denies UOC believers the right to be Ukrainians

Cross Procession of the UOC in Kiev, 2018

President Petro Poroshenko denies the believers of the UOC the right to be Ukrainians. This was stated by Chancellor of the UOC, Metropolitan Anthony of Borispol and Brovary, in his interview with Vesti .

According to the hierarch, the example of recent years shows that in certain moments the Ukrainian state can depart from the norms it itself declared.

"Even the recent statement of the President in the Verkhovna Rada that the UOC will be renamed testifies to the fact that the guarantor of the Constitution ... how to put it more carefully ... by his statements and actions can plunge Ukraine into real chaos," said Vladyka Anthony. "Not only that a large number of believing Ukrainians for some ridiculous reason are denied the right to be Ukrainians, although they live in this country, love it, pay taxes, serve in its army, work for its well-being. There is another terrible thing – they are deprived of the sense of security, as well as the confidence that the law stands guard over their interests and guaranteed freedoms."

Metropolitan Anthony noted that, as history shows, if people do not feel that their rights are protected by law, then they begin to defend them on their own.

"God forbid, if we cross the line when our temples, our Lavras will be seized ... For people will defend their sanctities and their faith," the UOC Chancellor stressed.

Last week, Petro Poroshenko said that after the Tomos has been received, the UOC will be called the "Russian Orthodox Church".

In turn, Metropolitan Anthony said that by demanding to rename the UOC the schismatics are trying to turn the canonical Church into the alien one for its people.

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