Head of UGCC and Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Condemn ‘Priest’s Extremist Speech’

The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk, and Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine Yaakov Dov Bleich on December 12 jointly opposed the extremist speech by a priest from Ivano-Frankivsk. “We strongly condemn the December speech made by priest Mykhailo Arsenych which contradicts the mission of the priest,” states the statement to the faithful and the entire Ukrainian society.

The UGCC Information Department reported that the homily by Father Mykhailo Arsenych of the Kolomyia-Chernivtsi Eparchy of the UGCC featured aggressiveness and radicalism. A video of this speech and previous ones have been spreading across the Internet and caused a heated debate and accusations against the church. As noted in the statement, such views “have nothing to do with the views and practices of the UGCC, and they contradict the official doctrine of the church and the guidelines of its clergy.”

“We call on all citizens of Ukraine to understanding, unity, interreligious and interethnic harmony and dialogue. We ask all believers to strengthen their prayers for peace, harmony, and the prosperity of Ukraine and its people, and not to respond to provocations, including those pseudo-religious ones,” the patriarch of the UGCC and the Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine said.

“In this regard, the great feat of the Primate of the UGCC Andrey Sheptysky and many Greek Catholic priests, who during WWII saved many Jews from the Nazis, despite the threat of being murdered by the occupation regime, and who publicly spoke out against the killings, even in wartime, speaks for itself,” the statement says.