Despite the fact that the present territories of Ukraine and Belarus has been Orthodox centers long before the Moscow Patriarchate was established, none of them could create their Orthodox Church with independence. The local Orthodox Church is required both by Belarus and Ukraine, because it is an element of total political independence, said Professor Alexander Sagan, an expert in religious studies in an interview with Radio Liberty.
“Our political independence is also incomplete and according to Zbigniew Brzezinski: even if 20% of religious organizations are controlled from the outside, such political independence is conditional. I fully agree with him, and the current situation with the war in the East is a confirmation of this. Inside the society, the local church is vital to all those who support Ukrainian statehood, Ukrainian independence. Fortunately, most of them.
The most important thing that can be done is to get a local church with the recognition of world universal Orthodoxy, and then many questions will disappear by themselves. I spoke well of Brzezinski, for the Church is a channel of influence on the situation not only in religious life, but also in political life in the country.
We have the same situation in Ukraine. And today it has particularly exacerbated, for example, in the Diocese of Zaporizhzhya, where the SBU disclosed the pro-Russian church-based organizations, which are actually assaulting units of the church and have their weapons, and the local hierarch, Metropolitan Luka instead of condemning such militarization of the church, called for the establishment of such organizations almost every parish. Therefore, the only way out is to strengthen its defense capability, to strengthen the position and will of the society towards the local Church,” said Oleksandr Sagan.