Patriarch Filaret Comments on Language Law
In an interview to Gazeta.ua, the Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate Patriarch Filaret analyzed the language law which was recently passed.
According to the hierarch, he visited more than ten regions in two months: “There is a difference in the moods of the people. Patriotism and democratism dominate in the western and central regions. In the eastern regions, many people are inclined towards Russia. But there are Ukrainians defending the interests of the nation even there. They say everywhere that our authorities pursue a wrong course.”
Patriarch Filaret said that for the sake of self-identification, the Ukrainian nation must first of all preserve its language as there is no nation without it. He stressed that the Ukrainian language is being attacked now exactly for that reason.
“If we do not uphold it as the only state language, Russian will dominate here again. It means that we will be losing our identity and national idea.
“Secondly, it is necessary to have our own independent Ukrainian Church. Without it there can be no independent country. All the states which arose after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Albania gained independence for their church. It did not happen in Ukraine. There is an independent church, the Kyivan Patriarchate. But there is also UOC-Moscow Patriarchate.
“If services are celebrated in Old Svalonic which is not understandable for a modern person and the sermons are delivered in Russian, the Orthodox population will be brought up not in the spirit of the Ukrainian national idea but in the spirit of Russian imperialism,” said the patriarch in the interview.
