UOC hierarch: Head of Phanar is alien and confusing figure for Ukrainians

Metropolitan Clement (Vecheria). Photo: news.church.ua

The head of the Patriarchate of Constantinople has come to Ukraine more than once, but "the common people did not understand very much who he was, where he came from and what he needed here." The Chairman of the Information and Education Department of the UOC, Metropolitan Clement (Vecheria) of Nizhyn and Pryluky, said this in his comment to RIA Novosti.

According to the hierarch, one of the possible reasons for the meeting of the President of Ukraine with Patriarch Bartholomew that took place the day before could be the search for “non-standard” ways to resolve the situation in Donbass. Although, he noted, the influence of the head of Phanar in the Donbass area is minimal.

“Today, the Ukrainian president is looking for different, including non-standard, ways to overcome the crisis in Donbass,” Vladyka Clement said. “There was some information in the press about the recent contacts of Ukrainian officials with the Vatican. Perhaps now these officials have suggested that the president try to talk with Patriarch Bartholomew."

In addition, he believes that the meeting in Turkey could have been "an informational occasion during the election campaign." Recalling the experience of ex-President Petro Poroshenko, who was "guided not by the constitution but by the recommendations of political strategists" in relation to the UOC, the hierarch noted that "the political results of this are known, and it would be strange if the current presidential team made the same political mistake."

Patriarch Bartholomew himself, whom Zelensky invited to Ukraine, is "a strange and confusing person" for the Ukrainian people, Vladyka Clement believes.

“Bartholomew was able to find out about it himself, he came to Ukraine more than once. Despite the attempts of Ukrainian politicians to create a diplomatic pomp for his visits, the common people generally did not understand very much who he was, where he came from and what he needed here,” summed up the Chairman of the Information and Educational Department of the UOC.

We will remind, on October 16, 2020, Vladimir Zelensky paid a visit to Phanar. As part of the visit, he visited St. George's church, where a prayer service was served in his honor, and also met with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and invited him to Ukraine. At Phanar, Zelensky's visit was regarded as a sign of "love, respect and devotion of the entire Ukrainian people".

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