UOC spokesman: Church can help reintegrate temporarily occupied territories

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church considers certain non-controlled areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions to be part of Ukraine and the UOC’s presence there can help reintegrate these territories, Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich said in an interview with the Peace and Development Foundation.

The priest explained that the eparchies whose flock lives in the non-controlled territories of the Donbas remain in the UOC. “We constantly communicate with our clergy and faithful from those non-controlled territories. Whenever possible, bishops and priests come to Kyiv or to other localities in the controlled part of Ukraine. I am convinced that communication between people from different regions and territories is a real basis for unity,” Father Nikolai believes.

The spokesperson for the UOC noted that initially, they tried to present the events in the East of Ukraine as a religious conflict, but this rhetoric did not last long. “In my opinion, this conflict has social, political, ideological, rather than religious reasons. Today, it is obvious that significant groups of our believers are present on both sides of the demarcation line,” said Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich.

He also stressed that politicians from different sides are trying to divide people, but the Church urges not to do this afterwards it is very difficult to unite and reconcile people, which the UOC constantly and with difficulty does on both sides of the demarcation line. “Therefore, we do not divide people, we avoid political assessments in our churches, but we try to keep people in unity, reconcile and calm them down,” the UOC spokesman concluded.

As reported, Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich said that the UOC remains the largest denomination in the country in terms of the number of parishes, communities and believers.

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