MP about Poroshenko’s religious policy: This is disregard for Orthodoxy

MP of the Verkhovna Rada Vasily Nimchenko

The incursion of current President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andrei Parubiy into the religious life of our state triggered a split, said Parliamentarian Vasily Nimchenko in an interview with First Cossack Internet channel.

“They (Poroshenko and Parubiy – Ed.) did everything to intervene in the activities of religion. The head of state, together with Parubiy, intervened and caused the split of Christianity of the Eastern rite – Orthodoxy,” Nimchenko said.

The MP remembered how the politicians "went on a church tour"  with the first version of the Tomos.

“This is an open disregard for Orthodoxy,” he noted.

An investigation into the commission of a criminal offense has been opened for Paruby’s public incitement to inter-faith strife, for his shouts of a “sect” toward canonical Orthodoxy, Nimchenko said. And he added that the court has not yet begun to consider the case on the intervention of the Verkhovna Rada in religious affairs.

On October 18, 2018, the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada openly declared that the “Church of the Moscow Patriarchate” is not the Church. “How dare you speak here, from the high Ukrainian tribune, about disdain for the Ecumenical Patriarch?! This is just Gundyaevism and demonstrates that UOC is the KGBist sect,” he replied then to one of the people's deputies.

On December 5, 2018, the Pechersk District Court of Kiev ordered the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine to enter into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations information on the commission of a criminal offense and to start a pre-trial investigation against Parubiy in connection with his rhetoric toward the priests of the UOC. “The Opposition Platform – For Life”, acting within the legal framework, will not allow raider seizures of church property and will protect the clergy and parishioners of the UOC – the only canonical Church in Ukraine, against which the flywheel of political repression is already launched,” Nimchenko told.

Read also

Attempted Arson at Hagia Sophia Quickly Contained, Suspect in Custody

Incident follows evening prayer service; authorities say suspect has history of mental illness.

Surrogates More Likely to Suffer from Mental Illness

Nearly half of surrogate mothers face risk of new-onset mental health issues, according to a recent study.

Nearly 2,000 Pilgrims Participate in Procession to Pochaiv Lavra

“We walked openly, prayed together, and were amazed that 1,800 of us came together," one pilgrim said.

Patriarch Bartholomew Seeks to Create a 'Common Sacred Worldview'

Patriarch Bartholomew clarified that the goal is not a unified global religion but a “global alliance of conscience” opposed to a “reductive materialist worldview."

Schismatic Anglican Bishop Schisms from Schismatic Anglican Sect

The split reflects Giffin’s resistance to a potential APA merger with the Anglican Catholic Church—another small, schismatic Anglican body.

Macedonian and Ukrainian Bishops Concelebrate for the First Time

The newly-autocephalous Macedonian Church refused to recognize the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine.