Communities are to choose for themselves to which Patriarchte they belong, Rivne Eparchy of the UOC-KP comments

The Eparchy of Rivne of the Kyiv Patriarchate commented on the signing of the Memorandum expressing willingness to unite into the one national Orthodox Church, recognizing and condemning Russia as aggressor and denouncing the capture of places of worshipby the bishops of the UOC-KP, UOC (MP) and other denominations on November 13.

“The Eparchy of Rivne of the UOC-KP welcomes this initiative, which aims to relieve tension in interfaith relations. We’d like to emphasize that this is a historic event for all of us because it is a real step towards the formation of theone Local Orthodox Church in Ukraine,” states the document.

The commentary’s authors emphasize that they have never called for assaults or church seizures because they are not interested in inciting hatred of those with whom they want to reunite.

“We also emphasize that according to the legislation of Ukraine, every religious community has the right to choose their denominational affiliation by themselves. So in cases where parishioners want to choose the Kyiv Patriarchate insteadof the MoscowPpatriarchate, they have a legal right to do so, and we cannotdeny them. We are not campaigning for these decisions, the faithful make an informed and voluntary choice, but our doors are open to all, and if someone wants to go under the jurisdiction of the Kyiv Patriarchate, we accept them, if they don’t – we are not forcing them,” they say.

“We believe that the desire of the Ukrainian people to have the One Ukrainian Orthodox Church time will come truein a short. And this church will be the truly Ukrainian church,” states the Diocese of Rivne of the UOC-KP.