Parliamentary Candidates Involve Priests in Agitation in Election Campaign

A candidate for the Parliament Taras Batenko organized meetings in his support with the participation of priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) and Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC).

A candidate for the Parliament Taras Batenko organized meetings in his support with the participation of priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) and Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC). Stepan Polozhii described such specific occasions in his article "Bless me, father, for I gave you money."

The author of the article reminded that Patriarch Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) repeatedly stressed that UGCC priests are prohibited to agitate in the election campaign.

However, according to the article, as early as last week, priests of Mykolayiv and Zolochiv blessed a parliamentary candidate, Taras Batenko. The meetings were held in the two towns according to the same scenario, with the participation of not only deans of UGCC but also UOC-KP and UAOC. The press service of the UGCC reported later that by doing so the priests “disobeyed their Primate and the Church.”

However, according to the article, “it did not prevent the priests from openly thanking the candidate and calling people to vote specifically for him.”