Uniatism and schisms of the 20th century - the implementation of a plan to weaken the spiritual life of Ukraine, - Patriarch Kirill

The biggest tragedy is that Ukraine was divided along religious lines, and this division did not begin today and not in our time. The emergence of Uniatism was the first such blow to Ukraine, then there were the schisms of the 20th century, and no one will convince me that this is the implementation of a certain plan aimed at weakening the spiritual life of Ukraine, at breaking the unity of historical Rus. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said this in his interview for the 75th anniversary. The interview was published by the Patriarchia.ru portal.

“The current policy aimed at dividing the Orthodox Church is very much tied to the political context, because no theological considerations can explain the attempts to divide the Orthodox Church, to weaken it. For the sake of what, for what purposes? There is only one goal – to take as far as possible from Russia and from the Russian Orthodox Church, but this is a political goal, not a spiritual one. But I thank God for the fact that Orthodox people in Ukraine preserve the purity of Orthodoxy and an impeccable canonical system, which fully corresponds to the canonical tradition of the Ecumenical Orthodox Church. And for me, as the Patriarch of All Russia, there is no division into peoples and states, but there is the flock of the Russian Orthodox Church. <…>

For me this (the split in Ukraine – ed.) Is really a great sorrow. I could even use a stronger word: it is woe to see the division of the Orthodox people, to see a terrible bitterness. I think that the Ukrainian leadership is not delighted with what is happening, but the flywheel of hatred, division and confrontation has been launched. In this regard, I would like to especially emphasize the role of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry, who does not allow himself to be drawn into opposition. He, of course, is together with his Church, with his people, but no one can point a finger at him and say: here is the leader of another party, a church party, who is leading the fight against dissent. This is not the case, and my words concern not only the life and ministry of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry, but also our entire Church. We do not participate in this battle, our Church, our Orthodox people are not responsible for this nightmare – it is borne by those politicians who have allowed confrontation within their people. A divided nation, a divided house is very dangerous, ”said the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.