OCU cleric: Banning UOC will benefit the devil and atheists

OCU cleric Yaroslav Yasenets. Photo: Yaroslav Yasenets' Facebook

OCU cleric Yaroslav Yasenets expressed his opinion on the adoption of Law No. 8371 on his Facebook page, stating that one of its consequences would be the reduction of churches where Sacraments necessary for our salvation are performed. According to him, this is beneficial only to atheists, godless people, and the devil.

The cleric is convinced that the UOC cannot truly be banned.

"They won't have the spirit to disperse them like they did with the Greek Catholics in '46. I’m not a democrat, but I'm also not much of a supporter of such methods," Yasenets writes, noting that this law is impossible to enforce because it "rubs too harshly against existing laws."

The OCU cleric poses the question: even if several dozen or hundreds of churches are taken from the UOC and the Pochaiv Lavra is closed – what then?

"We once thought that seizing the Lavra was a great victory, we expelled the 'Moscow priests', and now we would thrive. But in practice? The brotherhood is almost gone, very few parishioners remain, and the full-fledged masters in the light are the descendants of the undestroyed communists – the museum workers, for whom the church is a 'cult building', and the holy relics are 'museum exhibits'. On weekdays, the liturgy is not celebrated, the Refectory Church has been turned into a concert hall, and the caves are closed. 'Victory', in a word," Yaroslav Yasenets adds.

He then reminded of the situation with the Tithe Monastery, where the place where the liturgy was performed was destroyed.

"And how many churches transferred to the OCU no longer have regular services because there simply aren’t enough clergy? Meanwhile, people still go to the facilities repurposed for churches where UOC priests serve. Why? What are we doing wrong, despite having full media support and state assistance? And where are our monasteries, why are there so few of them? Where are the monastic tonsures in the new Lavra?..." the cleric continues to ponder.

He believes that reducing the number of churches in the Church, where Sacraments necessary for our salvation are undoubtedly performed and recognized by all other Local Churches, does not benefit Ukraine, our society, or our army.

"The devil wins. Global powers win. Western godless people win. Atheists and modernists, the greatest enemies of salvation and eternal life, win. On top of that, there won’t be any gains for the OCU from this," the OCU representative concluded.

As the UOJ reported, an OCU cleric explained why it is unacceptable to demolish churches and rejoice over it.

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