Mazurash MP criticizes forceful seizures of UOC churches by OCU supporters in Bukovina

Georgiy Mazurashu, MP from the Servant of the People party, criticized the seizure of Ukrainian Orthodox Church churches by supporters of the OCU in Bukovyna. The MP considers the actions of the OCU supporters to be savagery and a split in society. He wrote about this on his Facebook page.

“I am calm about the fact that some Orthodox communities decide to move from the UOC to the OCU (I have not heard of the opposite, but it may also happen, I do not know, it is the matter of believers). But this decision should be made by the parishioners of the respective church! Not “paratroopers” from neighboring villages, communities, or regions. Not the residents of this locality who go to church only on Easter or do not go at all. It is those who regularly go to that church, to all or almost all services, and are its real parishioners, with the moral right to decide such issues… And when you see such footage — how some young people, with the appearance and style of “busifiers”, are actually engaged in raiding, the question arises — are we in fact back to the “wild times” of the Middle Ages, or slave times, or are we a democratic country that is going to join the democratic European Union?”, — Mazurashu wrote.

The MP emphasized that raider seizures of UOC churches play into the hands of Ukraine’s enemies and contribute to deepening divisions in Ukrainian society. He added that it is absolutely wrong to hide behind patriotism in such cases, because there are no less patriots among the Ukrainian Orthodox Church than among those who seize churches.

“People who consider themselves patriots of Ukraine, but who do or support such things, did not want to think about what emotions the real residents of those churches have about their native state after such “limitless” seizures of churches? They are also citizens of Ukraine. And it is not a fact that they are less patriotic than those who decide that it is okay to seize churches… Such wild actions are just to the delight and benefit of our enemies, who are very much in favor of a split in our country because of “the wrong language,” “the wrong church,” “the wrong party,” and so on. We need to really respect the right of others to have their own position, even if it is different from ours. And we need to really unite around the cause of defense and other difficult challenges for Ukraine, and not fight among ourselves,” — wrote Mazurashu.

Earlier, Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Dubinsky said that the issue of religious freedom in Ukraine should be one of the points in the negotiation process to achieve peace with Russia. The deputy is convinced that after signing a peace agreement, which is to be ratified by the UN, all restrictions related to religion should be lifted in the country.