UOC: Why there are no statements from Phanar about raiding of the OCU
Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich) believes that Patriarch Bartholomew's visit to Ukraine may aggravate the situation in the church sphere of the country.
On August 23, 2021, the Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich) of Boryspil and Brovary, told why the Patriarchate of Constantinople does not make any statements regarding the raider seizures of UOC churches by the OCU supporters, RIA Novosti reports.
In an interview with the publication, Metropolitan Anthony spoke about the latest cases of the seizure of UOC churches by supporters of the OCU and noted that the priests of our Church and believers "often have to deal with violations of their rights and freedoms."
“Unfortunately, there are also facts of direct violence and aggression against the flock of the canonical Church. After Poroshenko left the presidency, the situation somewhat improved, but the problems have not disappeared anywhere. Everything just hung in the air,” Vladyka noted.
In his opinion, "any external factor like the outcome of the visit of Patriarch Bartholomew to Ukraine, can again aggravate the situation in the church sphere," and the process of raider seizures of the UOC churches "will receive additional impulses".
Metropolitan Anthony recalled that the Patriarchate of Constantinople "does not hide its interest in the resumption of strategic interaction with the Ukrainian authorities" and for this reason, over all these years, Patriarch Bartholomew "has not voiced a single statement as to the need to stop the raider attacks of the ‘OCU’ supporters on the communities of the canonical Church in Ukraine, and the inadmissibility of the use of force, threats and pressure on believers who want to remain faithful to God and His Church," the UOC Chancellor emphasized.
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that, according to Metropolitan Anthony, the statements of the OCU about their readiness for dialogue with the UOC are insincere.
