Senior Bishop of the Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith of Ukraine: spiritual leaders are to insistently remind authorities of their position

Ukrainian authorities represented by President Petro Poroshenko should be open to dialogue with the community as well as its spiritual leaders. That is why there is an urgent need to meet with the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and religious organizations to express their reservations and suggestions, Senior Bishop of the Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith of Ukraine Mykhailo Panochko in his comment to RISU.

“Looking at the situation in Ukraine, I am sorry to notice that the authorities do not take into account the lessons of the past. We repeat the mistakes that have been made. This government does not listen to anyone. They have no contact with people, they live in their own world, as Viktor Yanukovych did in his time. The leader is strong when he feels the pain and anxiety of society, when he stays with people,” he said after the publication of this statement on the official website of AUC ECB.

According to Panochko, there is a need for an open meeting of the AUCCRO representatives with the President to remind of social problems and needs of the people. Last week, a meeting of the Secretariat of the Council was held, during which all the participants unanimously supported this initiative. The document with relevant proposal shall be submitted to the Presidential Administration.

In particular, the meeting should be focused on several issues: the immediate victory over the monster of corruption that immensely degrades the country; cooperation with Europe, where the focus should be on internal changes in the country, and not on the visa-free regime; poverty and critical economic indicators that change the social situation.

Mykhailo Panochko notes that the main purpose of the meeting shall be the achievement of the open dialogue with the government in order to “level the ship”: “Religious leaders must remind the government that they should not distance themselves from people and repeat the mistakes of the past. The situation when a pastor is well-fed but the people groan. If lawlessness persists, God would not bless Ukraine. And now the transgression took a shape of law, which  is even worse than communism.”