AUCCRO voices position on vaccination against coronavirus
The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches believes the state should provide citizens with a free choice – to be vaccinated or not, as well as what kind of vaccine to choose.
On January 27, 2021, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (AUCCRO) announced its position on vaccination against COVID-19 in Ukraine, reports vrciro.org.ua.
On behalf of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, with the blessing of the Primate of the UOC, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine, Bishop Victor (Kotsaba) of Baryshevka, as well as an employee of the UOC Department for External Church Relations (DECR), Sergey Bortnik, took part in the meeting.
The meeting participants noted that the issue of vaccination is primarily a medical problem, and "religious leaders should not be promoters of this since this is the competence of physicians, who should comprehensively inform citizens about the benefits and risks of vaccination."
In addition, in their opinion, the state should provide citizens with a free choice: to be vaccinated or not, as well as with what kind of vaccine, since it is not only about its effectiveness and safety, but also about the production technology.
Earlier, Bishop Victor (Kotsaba) stressed that the Church does not oppose vaccination but the methods of its introduction are worrisome.
As reported, the head of the UGCC Sviatoslav Shevchuk became the new chairman of the AUCCRO for the next six months.
