UKRAINIAN NATIONALISTS DESCRIBE THE RESULTS OF ACTION IN SUPPORT OF PTsU
Union of Orthodox Journalists, 9 January 2019
On 6 January 2019, members of the national public movement "Right Sector" conducted an all-Ukrainian action in support of the PTsU, "Transfer to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine," although the event did not produce for the nationalists the results they expected, the website of the Right Sector reported.
According to information of the website, nationalists tried to persuade believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Borispol of Kiev oblast, Khmelnitsky, Kamenets-Podolsk, Poltava, Lvov, Vinnytsia, Sumi, Ternopol, Chernigov, Rovno, and Odessa to transfer into the newly created church structure. Action participants gathered at the cathedral church of the aforesaid cities, and in Odessa they arrived at the St. Ilin monastery.
However, the monotonous reports and news photographs demonstrated that the actions of the group of supporters of the PTsU were poorly attended and parishioners of the canonical church did not want to join them. For example, in Poltava they simply ignored their arguments.
"Very unfortunately, parishioners did not want to pay attention to common sense and they assured the nationalists that the Moscow church in Ukraine is a normal phenomenon," the website of Right Sector reported as the results of the action conducted in support of the PTsU at the Saint Makary cathedral church in Poltava.
However the nationalists are determined not to stop.
"The nationalist public movement Right Sector will continue dialogue with Orthodox Ukrainians, who because of certain circumstances still have not determined which church they should be in," the organizers of the action concluded their report.
We recall, Right Sector organized its own "open dialogue" in support of the PTsU at churches of the UPTs throughout Ukraine. "We want for each Orthodox believer to transfer into the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and to revive national identity. The Moscow church forces Ukrainians to doubt their own independence and strength, although it is now the time for a peaceful transfer into the Ukrainian church," the nationalists declared regarding the goals of conducting the action.
After the clergy and laity of the UPTs expressed concern regarding the actions of members of Right Sector, the organizers of "open dialogues" in support of the PTsU declared that the "church of the Moscow patriarchate" supposedly plans a "bloody action." "Now the original enemy of the Ukrainian nation cannot reconcile itself to the loss of its influence, which was exercised through a network of the so called 'church of the Moscow patriarchate.' Supporters of the RPTs are more and more often starting to display aggression. The Kremlin puppets are smoothly preparing us for 'great blood in the event of the tomos'," the nationalists declared. (tr. by PDS, posted 9 January 2019)
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