Parliament Committee Head: Having a local Church is more important than NATO membership
Olha Bohomolets, Head of Ukrainian Parliament's Committee on Health Issues, put her signature under the collective appeal of MPs to Metropolitan Onufriy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP). Ukrainian MPs called on him not to oppose the clergymen who support the creation of the Local Ukrainian Orthodox Church, reports the Press of Ukraine.
Today, on July 11, Olha Bohomolets, stated that she joined the MPs who appealed to Metropolitan Onufriy of the UOC-MP. Thus, the MPs urged him not to oppose the clergymen who favor the transition from the Moscow Patriarchate to the Ukrainian local church after it receives autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarch.
“And they are numerous, ranging from private priests and representatives of the high hierarchs. Respecting all the faiths, denominations and citizens who are parishioners of this Church, I rank First the independence of our State and the strength of the spirit! And I consider unacceptable any pressure or intimidation of people for their desire to live in a truly independent State, which has its own local Church!” Bohomolets wrote.
According to her, without a local Church there will be no independent Ukraine. The MP also believes that having a local Church is more important than Ukraine's joining the NATO.
“It is possible to defeat the army, but it is impossible to defeat the whole nation, and therefore it is not arms that is a solution to everything, but the strength of the spirit of the people,” she concluded.
