ROC dislikes that Patriarch Kirill is not welcome in Ukraine

Head of Information and Analytical Department of the Synodal Information Department of the Moscow Patriarchate V. Kipshidze called the speech by the representative of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine opposing the alleged visit of Patriarch Kirill to Ukraine "a parody of what the Ministry of Culture shall be engaged in".

“Director of the Department for Religious and Ethnic Affairs to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine Vladimir Yushkevich, who opposed the visit of a worldwide renowned religious leader to his country – this is nonsense”, said the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church.

He said that any authority responsible for culture shall make use of every opportunity to find space for peace and dialogue, even if there is a contradiction.

"I do not know to what extent this private position can be attributed to the entire Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, where, no doubt, mostly intelligent people work, but if it's the official opinion, it would surely return the Ukrainian society to Soviet standards of thinking", he said.

"Opposing the visits of religious leaders is to be afraid of the word of truth, be afraid of one’s fellow citizens who are completely free to choose whether to take part in such visits or not", said the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church.

"No matter whether this visit will take place or not, this position can be considered as something that goes counter not only to the modern European notions, but even to medieval notions of religious freedom that envisage free communication of a shepherd with his flock", said the head of Information Analytical Unit to the Synodal Information Department, as reported by the Synodal Information Department of the Russian Orthodox Church.