METROPOLITAN ONUFREY: CREATION OF UNITED LOCAL CHURCH IN UKRAINE WILL MAKE US SECOND-CLASS PEOPLE
Metropolitan of Kiev and all-Ukraine Onufrey thinks that creation in the country of a united local Orthodox church, which has been initiated by President Petro Poroshenko, would be detrimental for believers themselves.
"As a person and a priest, I can say one thing: this path that they are proposing will bring us many restrictions. On this path we will be second-class people and on this path it will be difficult to preserve the purity of faith. Therefore it is necessary to protect what we have. And our church has everything that is necessary for salvation" the metropolitan said, as quoted by the Information and Enlightenment department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The primate also explained what the concept of "unity" means for the church and why the church cannot live in accordance with the laws that politicians are trying to impose upon it.
"Our unity today consists in common prayer for one another. And if we are required to bless and pray for those who curse and insult us, then how much more should we pray for our brothers and sisters in faith who live in various corners of the earth. It is this prayer that make us a united body of Christ," Metropolitan Onufrey said. (tr. by PDS, posted 8 May 2018)
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