Yurash on the canonical Church: The parade of Kremlin agents begins

Head of the Department for Religious Affairs and Nationalities under the Ministry of Culture Andrei Yurash

"Agents of the Moscow Patriarchate" oppose the recognition of the OCU not only in Ukraine but also in the world, complained Andrei Yurash, Head of the Department for Religions and Nationalities of the Ministry of Culture.

“Not only in the Ukrainian church field but also in the world one, the parade of all direct and informal agents of the Moscow Patriarchate, who have now gone on the final stand against the tendency to accept the realities in Ukraine, began,” the “1Kozak” TV channel cites the official.

According to Yurash, the UOC attempts to protect the rights of its believers are nothing but active opposition to objective tendencies.

“The Church is driving itself into the plane of unrealistic awareness, replacing real slogans and a real platform with certain clichés that do not find any understanding of the flock itself,” the official said.

The religious scholar from the Ministry of Culture considers the attitude of the Local Orthodox Churches to the creation of the OCU “the last barricades of the Moscow Patriarchate”, which restrain the recognition process of the OCU.

“We see what discussions are now in the Georgian Church, in the Bulgarian Church, in the Polish Church, and what statements are sometimes provoked in the Greek Church,” said Yurash.

He is also convinced that representatives of the authorities and territorial communities are open to dialogue with the UOC during the seizures of churches and know how to conduct this dialogue "with depth and responsibility".

You can deceive many people but not those who are in the picture, the publicist Sergei Komarov commented on the official’s statements.

“It would not be an exaggeration to say that the head of the Department for Religions and Nationalities under the Ministry of Culture consistently advocated any opponents of the UOC and state religious policy even in the most blatant cases, such as beating in Katerinovka,” Komarov noted.

The publicist noted that human tears are behind the deception of Yurash.

“People, ordinary villagers are deprived of temples, priests are deprived of their place of service. This is a pretty cynical deception. You declare millions of people some kind of defected ones, outcasts, just because they want to go to another Church, not the one you go to,” concluded Komarov.

Earlier, the head of the Department for Religious Affairs and Nationalities under the Ministry of Culture explained to Ukrainians how they should “correctly” go under the jurisdiction of the OCU, stating that “each religious organization decides its own fate”.

Read also

Georgian Church Resumes Construction After Miracle

The foundation of a church was blessed at Georgia's Oncology Center — construction resumes on the Church of Ss. Panteleimon the Healer and John the Baptist.

BREAKING: Met. Arseny Hospitalized After Falling Ill During Court Hearing

Faithful urged to pray as proceedings in Sviatohirsk hierarch’s case continue daily.

Pat. Bartholomew: It Is a ‘Grave Sin’ To Put Politics Before Church Unity

"Those who jeopardize this unity in the name of geopolitical expediencies and base motives for acquiring earthly power—falsely cloaked in spirituality—commit an offense before God and a grave sin," the Ecumenical Patriarch said.

OCA Chancellor Visits Romania and Czech Lands and Slovakia

Archpriest Alessandro Margheritino represents Met. Tikhon at major church events and meetings with hierarchs of sister Churches.

Procession Held in Honor of St. Gabriel of Georgia

On Nov. 1, clergy, Mother Paraskeva, and Russian, Ukrainian, and Georgian faithful took part in a procession from the house of St. Gabriel the Confessor and Fool-for-Christ to the Samtavro Monastery.

Hierarchs of UOC Appeal to Zelenskyy in Defense of Met. Arseny

The episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church called on Zelenskyy to stop the persecution of Met. Arseny and to ensure he receives medical treatment.