Avakov forbids UOC priests to be chaplains, – deputy commander of the National Guard

The Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov has forbidden to involve priests of the UOC to the chaplaincy service in the National Guard. This was said by the deputy commander of the National Guard for military personnel administration Yaroslav Spodar in an interview with the "Ukrainian News".

"This is forbidden with us (the chaplaincy service of UOC priests – Ed.). They want, but we cannot do this. This was not only our opinion, but also the opinion of the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Justice. There is the corresponding order of the Minister of the Internal Affairs, which clearly states: "Priests whose spiritual centers are in the territory of the aggressor state are not allowed," he said.

The deputy commander stressed that the National Guard was the first among the Ukrainian power structures to introduce 44 military clergymen into the staff.

Now, under the labor contract, 38 chaplains are working in the military units of the National Guard. They are priests of the UOC of the Kiev Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

Earlier, the head of the National Guard of Ukraine Yuri Allerov said that when the institution of the chaplaincy (military clergy) was created in the structure he heads, the priests of the UOC would not be allowed to pastoral care of military personnel.