Catholic scholar about Ukraine: State shouldn’t interfere in life of Church

Monk Adalberto Mainardi, the scientific secretary of the Transfiguration Catholic Monastery in Bose, at a conference in Kiev. Photo: UOJ

The state should not interfere in the church sphere and take sides, said one of the forum participants, monk Adalberto Mainardi, MA in philosophy, scientific secretary of the Transfiguration Catholic Monastery (Bose, Italy) during the International Scientific Conference "The Church of Martyrs: Persecution of Faith and the Church in the 20th Century".

According to the scientist, they follow the church situation in Ukraine in Italy and pray "for justice and reconciliation".

“The suffering of the Sister Churches is the suffering of all the Churches,” he said. “And the suffering of the Churches in Ukraine is suffering for the Catholic Church, for us. It is very bad when God becomes an ideology.”

The monk emphasized that very often politicians, “calling God, pursue their goals in the interests of their party, and this is happening here in Italy and in other countries, too. And this is not God, but this is a flag.”

He expressed the conviction that the state should not interfere in the life of the Churches: “If the state is neutral in your country, this can help to establish mutual understanding between the Churches, and if it intervenes and takes sides, it is already very bad.”

Regarding his participation in the current conference on the new martyrs of the Orthodox Church of the twentieth century, the scientific secretary of the Italian monastery said that he made a report “The Importance of the New Martyrs of the XX Century in the USSR for Western Christians”. At the same time, he said that since 2006 he has come to Kyiv almost every year to participate in various conferences and readings held at the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, where he has many friends.

“I told how the experience of the new martyrs in the USSR was important for Western Christians and, in particular, for the Catholic Church <...>. I think that the memory of the new martyrs is the most important thing in the Church, and in general in the Churches. Because it was repeatedly mentioned at the conference that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. And what the blood of the martyrs means – this is those who preferred death to the renunciation of God, who did not want to use violence, they preferred to receive violence than to force others. In the image of Christ, who had mercy on those who tormented him. <...> I would like to wish as many people as possible to learn about the life and experience of the new martyrs because this is not yet fully understood but very relevant. And I want the Church to be faithful to Her calling to serve God as she does and be a sign of reconciliation and love for the whole Ukraine,” said the monk Adalberto Mainardi, emphasizing that he treats the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry, with great respect and love.

We recall that on February 6 and 7, 2020, with the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine, the International Scientific Conference “The Church of Martyrs: Persecution of Faith and the Church in the 20th Century”, attended by scientists from 17 countries, is taking place on the territory of the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

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