Kirovohrad Bishop to deputies: Why should the UOC, not the SBU, be banned?

Archbishop Mykolai of Kirovohrad. Photo: Facebook page of the Kirovohrad diocese

The newly appointed administrator of the Kirovohrad diocese, Archbishop Mykolai, addressed an open letter to the deputies of the regional council, who registered the draft ban on the UOC, where he stated that such a decision was illegal and unfounded. The letter was published on the website of the diocese.

The bishop said that accusations of the Church of working for the enemy are unacceptable and recalled that there are hundreds of collaborators in law enforcement structures, but the deputies do not call for their ban.

“For example, according to our President of Ukraine, 651 criminal proceedings have now been registered on high treason and collaboration activities of employees of the prosecutor's office, pre-trial investigation bodies, and other law enforcement agencies.

Direct speech: ‘In particular, more than 60 employees of the prosecutor's office and the SBU remained in the occupied territory and are working against our state,’ the President said, noting that such data call for ‘very serious questions to the relevant leaders, and each of these questions will receive a proper answer’,” the bishop writes and asks the deputies, “So why don't you raise the question of banning the activities of the SBU, the prosecutor's office or the police in the region?"

“Look into the eyes of our believers who are fighting for Ukraine against the invader – Russia, look into the eyes of thousands of UOC volunteers who give their last to our soldiers, look into the eyes of everyone who goes to our churches and say that you want to ban them. And most importantly, everything you do, you do in front of God, so look at the icon of Christ and tell Him that you are forbidding His Church,” wrote Archbishop Mykolai.

The hierarch urged the deputies "not to sow discord on religious grounds, to protect the unity of our Ukrainian people in every possible way and to observe the Constitution and Laws of Ukraine."

Recall that the deputies of the Kropyvnytsky Regional Council registered a draft to ban the activities of the UOC.

Read also