The sin of perjury: Archimandrite of OCU comments on "seizure" of churches by Moscow Patriarchate

In particular, he provided an example of how the transition from the UOC-MP to the OCU of the community of the Transfiguration Cathedral took place in Vinnytsia.

The archimandrite's post was cited by Archbishop Yevstratiy Zoria on his Facebook page.

"Perjury will not go unpunished, and he who tells lies will not be saved" (Proverbs 19.5).

Today, in the ancient Ukrainian shrine, consecrated by prayers and the exploits of the venerable fathers of the Kyiv Caves, the sin of perjury is being publicly committed.

Representatives of the clergy and main propagandists of the Russian Orthodox Church attended this shameful event, which desecrates the holy place. The gathering takes place in the refectory Church of the upper Lavra. Main topic: "Captured' temples. Our Transfiguration Cathedral is also on the list," Archimandrite Sofroniy wrote.

The priest of the OCU told how the transition actually took place in Vinnytsia.

"As regards our Cathedral, how exactly has it been captured? Was someone kicked out? Pushed out? Or, maybe anyone has entered the middle and took possession of the property at night, as robbers, through the window? Have they beaten someone, God forbid? No. The doors were open. Those who did not support the decision of the majority of the community voluntarily left the church," he said.

Subsequently, according to him, representatives of the UOC-MP began to invent stories about the seizure.

"I have a question: why didn't any one of the current "persecuted defenders" speak out against the majority in a timely manner and did not remain to defend the cathedral at the moment of transition? The priests, who disagreed with the community, packed their bags on their own and defiantly went out the front door. And the spiritual life in the cathedral has continued and is proceeding with its usual rhythm," the clergyman said.

"I don't say anything about rural communities that have joined the OCU at all. If the supporters of the Moscow church did not beat, then both parishes and villages would be calm and peaceful," he added.

"These, brothers, are the persecutions and captures. It is still necessary to find out who is being captured and who is really being persecuted? For more than a year, he has been taking care of several communities that still serve on the street. In one village, people built a church for several years, and now it is captured by supporters of the Moscow church and stands closed. The doors and windows were covered with cobwebs. There are no "faithful". People do not go to Muscovites for prayers. And so, if you take look at it, the majority of conflicting communities are conflicting not because the majority wants to pray in the canonical Ukrainian Church of grace and salvation, but because supporters of the Russian Church are trying to ignore the majority, despise Ukrainian law and serve the interests of a foreign country," Archimandrite Sofroniy stressed.

On Monday, February 22, the Human Rights Forum started in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in the form of a congress of representatives of UOC-MP communities, whose churches, according to the UOC-MP, were "captured by the OCU."

As "witnesses of the lawlessness of the OCU", about 300 believers who allegedly "suffered from persecution" were brought to the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.

The official website of the UOC-MP has published an address by Metropolitan Onufriy to the participants of this forum. In it, the head of the UOC-MP calls for "standing firm and not being afraid" and declares the persecution of the Church.