UOC: Meeting at Sophia Square on July 17 – a provocation to discredit the Church

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has no relation to the meeting organized by individuals at Sophia Square on July 17, reports the Information and Education Department of the UOC. 

"The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has no relation to this political event. None of the UOC clerics took part in it and gave the participants a blessing to such political actions," says the Information and Education Department. 

"No procession – all-Ukrainian or such that is organized by dioceses, parishes, monasteries, brotherhoods, sisterhoods, etc. – can be held under political slogans, or be devoted to the events of political life. Therefore, a combination of religious symbols and political slogans is unacceptable, and the gathering of citizens under the walls of St. Sophia on July 17 in no way can be called a cross procession," said the statement. 

"Obviously, this cheap provocation was aimed at discrediting the UOC. This is evidenced by the fact that the provocateurs feel secure in the center of the city, posing in front of photo and video cameras," summarized the a statement. 

Recall, on July 17, in social networks appeared the information that before Saint Sophia Cathedral a group of citizens held a meeting, during which they sang the national anthem of tsarist Russia. The video that accompanies this information shows that the participants of the gathering held religious symbols in the hands.

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