Attempts to split the Orthodox Church in Ukraine are connected with the political goals of the current government.
It was stated by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, in an interview with the propaganda TV channel "Russia-24", Religiyna Pravda reports.
"You can't change your faith, your tradition, or your true national interests. The biggest tragedy is that Ukraine was divided on religious grounds, and this division did not begin today and not in our time. The emergence of uniatism was the first such blow to Ukraine, then there were splits of the XX century, and no one will convince me that this is the implementation of a certain plan aimed at weakening the spiritual life of Ukraine, breaking the unity of historical Russia," the head of the Russian Orthodox Church believes.
He said that the current policy aimed at dividing the Orthodox Church is very tied to the political conjuncture. "It is great sorrow and grief for me to see the division of the Orthodox people, to see the terrible cruelty. I think that the Ukrainian leadership is not happy with what is happening, but the flywheel of hatred, division and confrontation has been launched," Kirill said.
He emphasized the role of the head of the UOC-MP, Metropolitan Onufriy. "Of course, he is together with his church, with his people, but no one can point a finger at him and say: here is the leader of another party, the church party, who leads the fight against dissenters. This is not the case, and my words concern not only the life and ministry of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy but also our entire Church. We do not take part in this clash, our church, our Orthodox people are not responsible for this nightmare — it is borne by those politicians who allowed confrontation within their people," Kirill said.