Shevchuk fears that banning UOC will give a “palm of martyrdom” into its hands

Head of the UGCC Sviatoslav Shevchuk. Photo: pravda.com.ua

Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the UGCC, said that the ban on the UOC does not mean the end of its existence, but, on the contrary, it will give it more opportunities to defend its case.

According to him, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is not only a religious structure, but also people who have constitutional rights.

Shevchuk called the very Orthodox faith of Ukrainians “Moscow Orthodoxy”.

“As long as there are people oriented towards Moscow Orthodoxy in Ukraine, so long will the Church exist. Even when, according to state law, it will be outlawed,” he told Ukrayinska Pravda.

Shevchuk also compared the desire to ban the UOC to the events of 1946, when the Soviet government liquidated the UGCC and forcibly merged it with the Russian Orthodox Church:

“We were banned once too. We survived the underground,” he says. “Moreover, the very fact that we were a martyr’s Church, which did not become a collaborator Church with the Soviet government, saved our moral authority.”

As reported by the UOJ, Sviatoslav Shevchuk said the Pochaiv Lavra is related to the UGCC.

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