UOC priest: In сase of Phanar head’s arrival, we will show how many we are

Archpriest Vasily Nachev at the prayer standing of UOC believers near the Partliament on June 15, 2021. Photo: a screenshot of the video on the “1Kozak” Youtube channel

The assistant to the head of the Legal Department of the Rivne Eparchy of the UOC, Archpriest Vasily Nachev, explained his participation in the prayer standing of the UOC believers at the walls of the Verkhovna Rada on June 15, 2021 by the fact that he considers anti-church laws unconstitutional and is ready to protest in the event of Patriarch Bartholomew’s visit to Ukraine that brought a split in the interfaith peace of the country.

In Valeria Vedenyeva's report on the “1Kozak” Youtube channel, Father Vasily noted that during the prayer standing and the cross procession to the President's Office there was a feeling of an Easter celebration. “In the middle of summer one could feel Easter when several thousand people, with the Easter greeting ‘Christ is Risen!’, singing the Easter troparions, gathered to prayerfully express their demands to the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada so that we be heard, and the anti-church laws adopted earlier be cancelled,” said the priest from the Rivne diocese.

He noted that quite recently, in April, the believers of the UOC brought to the OP more than a million signatures against anti-church laws, but there was no reaction from the authorities. “And today we have gathered to prove that we exist, so that our rights in this country are preserved because this is our state – we are Ukrainians, this is our country – Ukraine,” Fr Vasily stressed.

When asked whether he would take part in protests if the head of the Phanar arrived in Ukraine, the priest answered in the affirmative since he believes that this invitation to our country of the person whose actions brought only enmity is inappropriate. Therefore, he advocates for the withdrawal of Zelensky's invitation for the head of the Phanar to visit Ukraine. “The President is the guarantor of our Constitution, he guarantees our rights, we elected him,” said Archpriest Vasily Nachev. “If the state at its level will support his (Bartholomew's – Ed.) arrival, will cover it, show Bartholomew that the OCU is a large confession, we will show that this is not true. Our cross processions show that there are hundreds and thousands times more, and we will prove, with love, peacefully and nicely."

As reported, the spokesperson for the UOC noted that the Church is not only His Beatitude, its fate is in the hands of the laity.

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