UOC-KP Asks Yanukovych to Protect Metropolitan Volodymyr from Pressure to Resign

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) asked Metropolitan Volodymyr (Slobodan) to not retire and not give into pressure put on him in relation to the kidnapping of two nuns, the official site of the Kyivan Patriarchate reports.

“If this information is true and connected to Metropolitan Volodymyr (Slobodan), as it has been several times before, pressure will be put him to resign from his post as Primate of the UOC-MP. The Kyivan Patriarchate calls for Metropolitan Volodymyr to in no way to give into this unlawful pressure,” says a statement by the UOC-KP.

The UOC-KP calls on the bishops of the UOC-MP to protect their Primate.

The Kyivan Patriarchate asks for the president and government officials to verify information about the pressure on the metropolitan and in the case that it is confirmed, to protect him and the church led by him from undue interference in the statutes.

“After all, the intervention threatens church and public peace, causes resentment and resistance, which can be especially bad on the eve of the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus-Ukraine,” says the statement.