METROPOLITAN
OF
ZAPOROZHE READY TO GIVE TESTIMONY IN CASE AGAINST UPTsMP MEMBERS
Metropolitan
of
Zaporozhe and Melitopol Luka declared that he is ready to give
testimony within
the context of a case opened against representatives of the
Zaporozhe diocese
of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow patriarchate
(UPTsMP).
It
was reported
earlier that the Ukrainian prosecutor's office opened a criminal
case against
individual representatives of the Zaporozhe diocese of the
UPTsMP on suspicion
of discrimination against persons who had not undergone the rite
of baptism in
the UPTsMP. The security service of Ukraine reported that their
personnel
conducted searches in the case against representatives of the
diocese, during
which a weapon and leaflets with "anti-Ukrainian texts" were
found on
representatives of the public organization "Radomir Orthodox
Union"
in Zaporozhe.
"I
learned
from an official declaration that we enflame inter-religious
strife. But they
are reviling us. And we 'offend.' By our presence?! But we are
citizens of
Ukraine. We do not prohibit anything. We have the canons by
which we have lived
for 2,000 years. I am ready to explain and give testimony. I
have nothing to
fear," the metropolitan said, commenting on the fact of the
opening of the
case against representatives of the Zaporozhe diocese of the
UPTsMP. His words
are quoted by the UNIAN news agency.
Earlier
the
prosecutor's office declared that individual representatives of
the Zaporozhe
diocese of the UPTsMP, the "Radomir Orthodox Union," and other
unspecified persons allegedly committed acts aimed at enflaming
national and
religious strife and hatred and offense to the feelings of
citizens because of
their religious convictions, which led to serious consequences
in the form of confrontations
and mass disturbances in Zaporozhe province and other regions of
Ukraine.
The
Ukrainian
prosecutor's office maintains that representatives of the
Zaporozhe diocese of
the UPTsMP allegedly condemn communication by parishioners of
the church in the
Ukrainian language and they allow a preferential approach to
performance of
religious rituals, giving preference to persons who have
undergone the ritual
of baptism in the UPTsMP, by which they offend the feelings of
citizens because
of their religious convictions. . . . (tr. by PDS, posted 13
January 2018)
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