Vinnitsa eparchy responds to information about Met Simeon and SLC

Metropolitan Simeon of Vinnitsa and Bar

On November 5, 2018, the press service of the Vinnitsa eparchy officially commented on the mass media reports that Metropolitan Simeon (Shostatsky) of Vinnitsa and Bar could lead the Ukrainian Church after receiving autocephaly.

“It is not surprising that Metropolitan Simeon’s name once again sounded in the context of the events that accompany the granting of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine,” the official statement published on the eparchy’s website says. “Recall what happened four years ago, when instead of the late Metropolitan Vladimir, a new Primate was elected. Then Metropolitan Simeon of Vinnitsa and Bar ranked third among all the hierarchs of the UOC. And this is despite the fact that on his side there was neither a church nor a secular administrative resource. Therefore, it is not surprising that journalists today remember exactly his person. ”

The press service of the eparchy notes that Metropolitan Simeon is accused of having connections with the authorities.

“But is this a drawback?” the authors of the statement wonder. “And are bad relations with secular authorities an obligatory sign of spirituality? Thank God, due to Vladyka Simeon the Vinnitsa eparchy has absolutely normal relations with the authorities, with society, and with representatives of other faiths. It is precisely the position and administrative actions of Metropolitan Simeon that in the past four years have made it possible to avoid a lot of conflict situations that could turn into hotbeds of confessional or church-public confrontation, as we see in individual eparchies. Moreover, His Grace Simeon consistently stands for the interests of the Church. ”

The press service emphasizes that it is not easy in the conditions of war to maintain high the authority of its Church when the UOC is directly called the “fifth column of the enemy”.

“In our opinion, as Metropolitan Simeon is acting, others would also have to act,” the press service noted. “One thing is to point out the shortcomings of the authorities, and quite another is to open a “second front” against the leaders elected by the people in war conditions, frankly express contempt for them and disregard for the country in which you live, which, unfortunately, can be observed not only among individual politicians, but also among our Orthodox brethren.”

The Vinnitsa eparchy press service insists that the information wave, which was picked up by both all-Ukrainian and regional, and even some foreign media, is an “expected reaction of journalists,” given the memory of the past elections in the UOC.

Earlier, the media published information that Metropolitan Simeon f Vinnitsa and Bar is one of the main candidates for the post of head of the SLC, and his candidacy, according to Mosiychuk, is supported in the Presidential Administration. On October 30, Metropolitan Luke (Kovalenko) called upon Metropolitan Simeon to openly express his position on the SLC project.

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