Head of Pidvysoke UTC: UOC ban is a speculation we will not let happen
An official from the Kirovohrad region said that no one has the right to forbid believers to pray.
Viktor Lozinsky, head of the Pidvysoke UTC of the Holovaniv district, Kirovohrad region, said at a regular meeting that no officials can forbid people to gather in a religious community and pray. Vasily Goncharuk reports this on his Facebook page.
“People confuse the village community and the church community. <...> A religious community is an association of people who turn to God in the form they consider necessary. Jews go to the synagogue, Muslims go to the mosque, and these people go to their church. No, we want them to go to some other church. So what's the big deal if you want that?" Lozinsky noted.
The official suggests that those who wish to ban the UOC should first remember in which church they were baptized, and if something does not suit them, go and convert to Judaism, Islam, or, as they say now, “be re-baptized” in a temple of another jurisdiction.
“It's all speculation. We do not have this in our territorial community and will not have it. <...> The head of the Verkhovna Rada said – let’s not incite (inter-religious strife – Ed.), the president said the same. <…> No one can forbid people to gather in a religious community,” said the head of the Pidvysoke UTC.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that Metropolitan Joasaph of Kirovohrad and Novomyrhorod appealed to the authorities to protect believers from persecution.
