The religious procession organized by the Moscow Patriarchate will not be a religious event – it will be a political event aimed at preventing the bestowal of Tomos and the autocephalous status to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The religious procession organized by the Moscow Patriarchate will not be a religious event – it will be a political event aimed at preventing the bestowal of Tomos and the autocephalous status to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Bohdan Chervak, leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, said this during a live broadcast at ZIK TV-channel, at the TV show called “First about Essential. Comments”.
Commenting on the Church procession announced by the Moscow Patriarchate for July 27, Bohdan Chervak said that the OUN urged their supporters and members to support the procession held by Patriarch Filaret and the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate.
“In fact, this should be a march that should demonstrate the willingness of Orthodox Ukrainians to get the Tomos and obtain the autocephalous status for Ukrainian Orthodoxy,” said Bogdan Chervak.
With regard to the procession organized by the Moscow Patriarchate, the OUN leader urged to call things by their proper name, “This will not be a religious event, it will be a political action aimed at preventing the bestowal of the Tomos, proclaiming the status of the Autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church. If it incites various provocations, then law enforcement agencies should prevent them, since these provocations are directed not only against receipt by Ukrainian Orthodoxy of the status of the one Local Church, but measures directed against the Ukrainian state.”
Bohdan Chervak noted that by provocations he meant aggressive and arrogant attacks against the Ukrainian State, namely those aimed at supporting the so-called Donetsk People's Republic-Luhansk People's Republic. The leader of the OUN suggested that -- given the experience of previous years --this could happen again this year.