Metropolitan Luke: In the elections we’ll vote for the future of the Church
Believers of the UOC should take part in the elections but take into account candidates’ attitude to our Mother Church, believes Metropolitan Luke.
On July 2, 2019, Metropolitan Luka of Zaporozhye and Melitopol, in his address to the faithful, published on the website of the Zaporozhye Eparchy, called on all the believers to fulfill their civic duty on July 21 and wished the candidates to remain honest to the people.
“Our duty is to help stop political rage in the parliament and, through participation in elections, contribute to the establishment of order,” noted Vladyka Luke.
Vladyka encouraged believers to participate in the elections despite past disappointments.
“Due to the fact that the elections are voluntary, and many of us have repeatedly been disappointed in their results, they prefer not to participate in them. But, it must be remembered that according to the Constitution of Ukraine, the only source of power in the country is the people whose will is exercised, including through elections,” the UOC hierarch recalled.
At the same time, Metropolitan Luke notes that believers should choose from those candidates who are loyal to the Church.
“Each of us must make our choice in favor of any political force, and we, as faithful children of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, are obliged to base our choice on how the candidates for power treat our Mother Church,” said Metropolitan Luke.
“I wish the future elected representatives of the people to fulfill their duty and not forget the words of their oath, for it is said that ‘whoever speaks a lie will perish’. I wish all of us wisdom when we come to the polling stations to fulfill our civic duty, to remember that on July 21 we ourselves determine our future, the future of Ukraine and our Church,” concluded the hierarch.
As the UOJ reported, abbess Serafima (Shevchyk), the abbess of the Holy Archangel Michael Convent of Odessa, said earlier: the foundation of the newly created church structure collapsed immediately after the election of the President of Ukraine. When the foundation is Christ, the structure can stand for millennia, the abbess of the Odessa monastery emphasized.
