Ukrainian Deputy Excludes UOC Believers From Forgiveness Appeal

Photo: Andriy Bokoch/Facebook

VOLODYMYR, UKRAINE — Andrii Bokoch, deputy of the Volyn Regional Council, issued a public statement on Facebook for Forgiveness Sunday, asking forgiveness “from everyone whom I may have somehow hurt, whom I may have offended in any way, willingly or unwillingly, by word, deed, or thought.”

However, Bokoch explicitly excluded members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) from his appeal, stating he would not seek forgiveness from them. “I cannot and will not ask forgiveness from supporters of the Moscow Patriarchate, from whose mouths pour downpours of curses — there is no love for one’s neighbor in their words; only hatred has been kindled there. Forgiveness cannot be fake and cannot justify evil. And I do not forgive orcs and their henchmen,” he wrote.

Bokoch serves as an aide to MP Ihor Huz and was among the initiators of the expulsion of the UOC community from the Dormition Cathedral in Volodymyr, a move that has drawn significant public attention and controversy.

Previously, the UOJ reported that attendance is low after a UOC cathedral was transferred to the OCU.

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