EPIFANY: NO PLACE FOR RUSSIAN PRIESTS IN UKRAINIAN ARMY IN TIME OF WAR
Religiina Pravda, 19 December 2021
There are many examples that can be found in public sources where Russian priests, starting in 2014, blessed the leaders of troops and blessed those who slaughtered our forces. This was described by the primate of the PTsU (Orthodox Church of Ukraine), Metropolitan Epifany, in an interview with Radio Liberty.
"We have already gone more than five long years until the adoption of this law (on military chaplains—ed.). There were more than 10 draft laws. But they did not satisfy the churches and religious organizations in Ukraine, who have their own chaplains. But in the Ukrainian army around 80 percent of the chaplains are from the PTsU. Therefore we thank the Verkhovna Rada that it has finally managed to adopt an appropriate bill," Vladyka Epifany stressed.
He said that although it was clearly spelled out in the bill that priests of a church whose center is located in an aggressor country do not have a right to be spiritually engaged with service personnel, it was stricken out.
But there is a reference to the basic law in which it is clearly spelled out. And there is the law about renaming of the so-called "Ukrainian Orthodox Church" as the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine. It is not now being implemented. But the time is coming when it will be implemented. The order of the Ministry of Culture regarding renaming is being partially stalled. And now, so far as I know, it is being considered in the Ukrainian Constitutional Court, whether it satisfies or not. Although I think that it does satisfy, but nevertheless the court will make a constitutional decision in the future," the primate of the PTsU declared.
"On the other hand, our service personnel will not now accept a Russian priest into their ranks. There are numerous examples. They can be found in public sources, on the internet, how they (Russian priests—ed.), starting in 2014, blessed the leaders and blessed those who slaughtered our troops," Metropolitan Epifany stressed.
He said these are rare cases, and thus there is no place for Russian priests in the Ukrainian army during wartime, the real war that is taking place. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 December 2021)
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