Expert: President as guarantor of the Constitution must assess blasphemy

Religious expert Yuriy Reshetnikov. Photo: pravfond

On December 15, 2022, at a press conference of the UOC, Yuriy Reshetnikov, a religious expert, PhD in philosophy, and the chairman of the State Committee of Ukraine for Nationalities and Religions in 2009-2010, characterized the attitude of the state towards the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

According to the expert, the blasphemy of "Quarter 95" has hurt the feelings of all believers, including Muslims. "In such a situation, the President of Ukraine as the guarantor of the rights of Ukrainians should have his say. And the AUCCRO (All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations – Ed.) should have responded, because it hurt the feelings of all believers, regardless of confession," Reshetnikov said.

He said that one of the reasons for the appearance of a lowbrow sketch was the years of unpunished information provocations against the UOC: "This would have been impossible if there had not been all the previous years and many inciting broadcasts about the UOC. According to the expert, a "manipulative, aggressive, targeted information policy against the UOC" has been pursued for years.

Yuriy Reshetnikov said that "humorists" have a sense of impunity, hence the appearance of such a story. "But such people should be brought to justice," the expert stressed.

He drew attention to the coverage of the UOC in the Ukrainian media. "If you look at how the UOC is portrayed in the media and at the reality, you can think as if there are two Churches. One is not Ukrainian, hostile, and bad. The second one is that objectively exists, which believers work in this country, pay taxes, raise children, defend it with weapons in their hands, or help in the home front," said Reshetnikov. He recalled that during the war the UOC collected more than a million tons of humanitarian aid, most of which was sent to the AFU.

According to the expert, the situation with "Quarter 95" is "the tip of the iceberg" of the long-lasting information campaign against the "bad Church".

As reported, a Phanar cleric said that the "Quarter 95" antic reflected the government's attitude towards the UOC.

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