UOC spokesperson: Any vaccination must be voluntary

Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, deputy head of the DECR UOC. Photo: a screenshot of the video from the Youtube channel "Interfax-Ukraine"

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church stands for voluntary vaccination against coronavirus and other diseases, said Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, Deputy Head of the Department for External Church Relations of the UOC, in an interview with publicist Konstantin Matvienko, published on the “Interfax-Ukraine” Youtube channel.

The spokesperson for the UOC noted that the refusal to vaccinate should not lead to the restriction of the rights and freedoms of citizens. At the same time, he believes that now there are excesses in Ukraine regarding the possibility of making a voluntary choice for or against vaccination. Also, Father Nikolai said that the information on the composition of the vaccines should be publicly available.

Regarding the influence of the Church on the choice of a person, Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich noted that the UOC prohibits priests from interfering in the free choice of parishioners. “A confessor to whom a person confesses or comes to him for advice has no right to prohibit or force vaccinations against coronavirus. This is a matter of a person's personal decision, for which he is independently responsible,” said the UOC spokesperson.

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