Met Theodosy: Persecutors of Church unaware they are fighting God Himself

According to Bishop Theodosy, the Lord "will set everything in its place, and the persecutors will be admonished or punished".
The opponents of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church do not understand that they are at war not with people but with God Himself, said Metropolitan Theodosy of Cherkasy and Kaniv in a video address.

Opponents of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church do not understand that they are not fighting against weak individuals, against easy prey—senior people, women, children, priests—who cannot offer the same blatant and aggressive resistance. They do not understand that they are fighting against God Himself," said the hierarch in a video address.

He noted that "modern persecutors of the Church do not believe in God at all, and therefore, they not only justify everything they do but also believe that they will get away with it unpunished."

"They do not know that through the prophet Zechariah in the Old Testament, the Lord said, 'For whoever touches you touches the apple of My eye.' That is, anyone who offends the children of God, the believers, the church people, causes God extreme pain, as if touching the apple of His eye. And the Lord can endure it, but only for a time. The religious history of humanity, the history of our Church, has repeatedly proven this. God cannot be mocked," emphasized the bishop.

He also stressed that in the Holy Scripture, the Lord speaks through the mouth of the apostle Paul, saying, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay."

"He will surely repay. Not in terms of revenge, but He will set everything in its place. And the persecutors will be admonished or punished. And the Church, as it has been for these two thousand years of its existence, will emerge as the victor. It will definitely happen; there is no doubt about it. This is what the Holy Scripture says. The only thing we do not know is when it will happen: it may be in a month, in half a year, or in three years. But we know for certain that God will repay. Not a single tear shed by our parishioners, not a single community expelled from their church will remain without deep inner spiritual satisfaction from God. In eternal life, definitely, and most likely, even here, on earth," said the archpastor.

As reported, Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhia and Melitopol stated that taking away the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra from the Church is "like throwing stones at the face of the Mother of God and the saints whose relics rest in the caves". According to him, "you does not need to be a prophet or a seer to understand the consequences that such audacity will have for those madmen who act in this way".