Dumenko ascribes "collective responsibility" to those unwilling to join OCU
Epifaniy explained to a Radio Liberty journalist why his structure supports the ban on the UOC.
The head of the OCU, Epifaniy Dumenko, in an interview with Radio Liberty, stated that priests, communities, and believers of the UOC bear "collective responsibility" for being unwilling to "join" the OCU.
Epifaniy explained to the journalist why his structure supports the ban on the UOC. When she noted that the leadership of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had repeatedly stated that the UOC is not the "Russian Church", Dumenko responded that "they are disguising themselves."
"They deceive people because many people do not understand... They say that we go to the Ukrainian church, but this is not the Ukrainian church. This is the Russian church, which is disguised as the Ukrainian church," explained the head of the OCU.
When asked by the journalist whether all UOC priests "are followers of Russia, Patriarch Kirill, and Putin", Dumenko replied that "not all of them", and continued that "there is a large part of those who are hesitant, and they must make a decision accordingly: are they on the side of Ukraine or are they on the side of the aggressor?"
The journalist interrupted Dumenko and stated that he is "generalizing", to which the head of the OCU said that believers of the UOC bear "collective responsibility".
He continued that "many priests have made a decision, and many communities have made a decision to join the OCU. They (presumably, those who have not decided to switch to Dumenko – Ed.) have such an opportunity. No one prohibits them."
Having mentioned "collective responsibility", Epifaniy noted that joining the OCU is "a voluntary choice of each: priest, believer, or community as a whole".
Earlier the UOJ wrote that Dumenko said that he does not consider the Sviatohirsk Monastery as a Lavra.
