Head of UGCC: Pre-election Actions of Politicians Border on Use of Church for Personal Interest

In view of the elections to be held in Ukraine on October 31, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Patriarch Lubomyr, expressed his view on the efforts of politicians to gain support of the church in the election campaign. In an article "Meditation on the Pre-election Time" published by www.news.dt.ua, the patriarch noted that politicians seek to involve clergymen in the election campaign as they know well that "of all the social institutions the church enjoys the highest level of trust."

"They also often approach priests as believers even if they have never been seen at divine services," stated the head of the UGCC. During the election campaign, candidates often try to conduct public events jointly with priests. According to Patriarch Lubomyr, these acts border on attempts to use the church for their personal interest.

The patriarch stressed that such actions cannot be approved of. "What can one say about such actions? Unfortunately, all this borders on the use of the church for one's political interest. One can concede that this kind of support was enjoyed by a candidate who is really a believer and a consistently an active member of a church community but even this is not always appropriate," said the patriarch.