Met. Luke: Those who fight against God lose all hope for salvation

Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol. Photo: Zaporizhzhia Eparchy

On 18 October, His Eminence Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol, shared his assessment on Telegram regarding the violent seizure of the Archangel Michael Cathedral in Cherkasy.

The archbishop noted that the whole world witnessed how so-called "voluntary transitions" of UOC communities take place, using the example of the seizure of the Archangel Michael Cathedral in Cherkasy.

He believes that the footage, seen worldwide, revealed the true nature of the organization that calls itself Orthodox.

Members of this organization "stormed the cathedral grounds, used tear gas on believers again, many suffered corneal burns from the toxic substance, Metropolitan Theodosiy was struck on the head, and gunshots were heard. This is the kind of 'passion for prayer' these people have," the archbishop wrote.

Metropolitan Luke emphasised that "those who fight against God lose all hope for salvation."

"And for what? To prove their strength, to defeat the elderly, to enter the temple for half an hour where they have never gone and never intended to go? You cannot ask God for victory for your people while at the same time taking away their shrines. The city mayor openly calls for the seizure of temples. Only enemies of the state could act in such a way," the UOC hierarch remarked.

Metropolitan Luke wrote that many people still struggle to discern where true, living faith and the Church are, and where faith is dead and merely for show.

The events surrounding the Cherkasy cathedral clearly help to see, understand and feel this difference.

His Eminence Metropolitan Luke particularly stressed that where the truth is, there is the action of God's grace, and "grace does not work by the decisions of church functionaries" and is not "obliged to remain with those who commit sacrilege," Metropolitan Luke concluded.

As reported by the UOJ, after the cathedral seizure, Metropolitan Theodosiy said, “Behold, your house is left to you desolate."

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