Our Ukraine Party Recommends Patriarch Kirill Not to Politicize His Visit
KYIV – On July 20 an 8-day visit of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow will begin. According to representatives of the Our Ukraine party, the event that is supposed to be solely of a spiritual character, not only assumes features of a political scandal but also threatens to sharpen the civil confrontation in the country, reads a statement published on July 2 by the press service of Our Ukraine.
“Even today, the visit and careless statements of representatives of the ROC [Russian Orthodox Church] and certain political forces, incidents of interference of Russian spiritual hierarchs in the internal affairs of Ukraine give grounds for calls to forced confrontation between Ukrainians of different nationalities or denominations. Obviously, such a negative background is not at all in line with the very principles of the Christian religion. In addition, one should remember that both in Russia and Ukraine the church is separated from the state. Therefore, if the visit gets a clear political basis, it will be in violation of the law,” stresses the statement.
Our Ukraine recommends Patriarch Kirill reject various statements or actions of a political character. “As a good Christian, Kirill should call his adherents to become examples of restrain and humbleness and do their best to promote the establishment of peace and agreement in Ukraine. The good example of truly pastoral visits of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and Pope John Paul II to Ukraine gave new inspiration to the Christians of Ukraine for seeking agreement and possibilities to cooperate,” reads the statement.
Our Ukraine is convinced that the visit of Patriarch of Moscow should be conducted in the same spirit.
“Otherwise, if the political tension and civil confrontation increase due to the politicization [making political its activity by the ROC] of the activity of the ROC, its actions can only be described as discrediting Orthodoxy and its principles,” further reads the statement of Our Ukraine.
