Kharkiv And Poltava Eparchy of UAOC to Pray for Protection from Language Discrimination
On the last Sunday before the second reading of Bill 9073 “On the foundations of the state language policy,” on 1 July, 2012, the parishes of the Kharkiv and Poltava Eparchy of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (Renewed) are to celebrate liturgies and prayers to the Holy Virgin for the protection of Ukrainians of the south-eastern regions from language discrimination. So reported the press-service of the eparchy.
The above-mentioned bill will ensure complete domination of the Russian language in the east of Ukraine.
In an interview interview on the language issue, Archbishop Ihor (Isichenko) of UAOC stressed that the pro-regime forces want Ukrainians to quarrel because of the language instead of trying to find out the causes of the failure of the reforms.
“Perhaps, it suited the pro regime forces that the residents of Donbas and Galicia would exchange offences regarding the ethnic stereotypes instead of trying to find out why, for instance, the system of social security and the railway system were ruined, where the funds allocated for Euro-2012 went, what is happening to the tax system,” said the hierarch.
According to the hierarch, “in a country dominated by the rule of the gun, adoption of any law is solely of a symbolic importance. Especially, in such an irrational area as the language policy.”
“The imposition on the society of the discussion about the languages , which is quite painful for the Ukrainian-language part of the society suffering from the post-colonial syndrome and language discrimination, can have only one real purpose, to provoke confrontation of social environments according to ethnic-cultural orientations.
However, another, hidden purpose is possible, namely, to shift the center of discussions to the irrational language field thereby protecting oneself from the fair criticism for economic mistakes,” said Archbishop Ihor.
