Greek MP Condemns Violence Against UOC Clergy

Photo: Union of Orthodox Journalists / YouTube screenshot

ATHENS, GREECE — Greek MP Dimitris Papadopoulos spoke with UOJ-Greece about what he described as persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), sharply criticizing authorities and violence against clergy.

Commenting on footage circulating online, Papadopoulos said he had seen priests being mistreated. “I saw with my own eyes how priests are dragged by their beards and beaten. These are Zelensky’s Nazis. I don’t know what god they pray to. They pray to the devil.”

He also condemned actions against the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, calling it a sacred center of Orthodoxy. Papadopoulos criticized the removal of its abbot and warned that turning the monastery into a museum would undermine its spiritual significance. The MP further questioned Greece’s financial support for Ukraine, saying such aid lacked a clear mandate from the public.

Recalling the missionary work of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, he argued that Greece’s historical mission was to spread faith and learning rather than weapons.

In a previous incident that also drew national attention, Papadopoulos was briefly detained after smashing glass panels and display cases at the National Gallery—Alexandros Soutsos Museum in protest of an exhibition he said blasphemed Orthodox Christianity. Authorities took him into custody following the confrontation.

Previously, the UOJ reported that a Ukrainian Deputy excluded UOC believers from a Forgiveness Sunday appeal.

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