Rivne Eparchy cleric: Believers of UOC strive for one thing – equal rights

Archpriest Vasily Nachev at the President's Office in Kyiv. Photo: news.church.ua

Believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are striving for only one thing – equal rights. Archpriest Vasily Nachev, Deputy Head of the Legal Department of the Rivne Eparchy of the UOC, said this at the Office of the President in Kyiv, where the believers brought an appeal regarding the persecution of the canonical Church in Ukraine.

The clergyman noted that representatives of several eparchies that suffered most from church raiding "came with signatures and an appeal to the President of Ukraine so that he would pay attention to us".

Everyone who came to the Office of the President, he added, have “their stories, their grief, their tears, which they shed when the temples were taken away from them. They took them by force, beat people, threatened them. There was a disregard for all these illegalities on the part of the police”.

“We want the President as the Guarantor of the Constitution to protect our rights,” Fr. Vasily. “We want the same attitude towards ourselves as towards all Ukrainians. We demand that today we should not be divided into the right, left, right or wrong. We are citizens of Ukraine, and this is our country, our state."

The archpriest noted that the believers of the UOC pray for peace in Ukraine, do not take anything from anyone and do not want to be at enmity with anyone.

“The only thing we want is equal rights. And our only weapon is prayer. We have no more weapons,” he stressed.

In conclusion, Fr. Vasily stated that the believers brought the word of truth to the President – one can only hope that he will hear it.

As reported, on April 1, 2020, a press conference "Appeal of the UOC believers to the authorities: discriminatory laws and oppression" was held, then the believers of the most affected eparchies held a prayer service on the Vladimir Hill, after which they brought the parishioners' appeals to the Office of the President.

The full text of the appeal is published here.

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