“Uniates are beneficiaries of church seizures, persecution of UOC believers,” ROC spokesman

Vakhtang Kipshidze, deputy head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media, drew attention to the role of the Greek Catholic Church in the repression of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Kipshidze noted that the UGCC is very often the ultimate beneficiary of the persecution of the UOC. He said this in an interview with RTVI.

“You and I are well aware of the history of Uniatism, that is, the church union <…> The Union of Brest [in 1596] transferred some of the believers of the Orthodox Church, who retained their external church rite, under the leadership of the then Roman pontiff. All those who did not accept the Union on the territory of the Western Russian lands were very actively and aggressively persecuted by the Polish authorities, who associated themselves with Catholicism. We know that this form of religion has survived to this day. Now in Ukraine, the Uniates are the most aggressive and irreconcilable opponents of everything that connects Russia and Ukraine, and the only thing that connects Russia and Ukraine now is the common Russian Orthodoxy,” – noted Vakhtang Kipshidze.

He added that the UGCC, despite its aggression against canonical Orthodoxy, remains in canonical connection with the Vatican. This factor, according to Kipshidze, is an irritant in relations between the ROC and the RCC.

“And this causes such irrational aggressive hatred of the Uniates, who are very often the beneficiaries of the seizure of churches, persecution of the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church <…> At the same time, they maintain a connection with the Holy See. Therefore, this is a factor in the relations between the Russian Church and the Roman Catholic Church that is irritating. We do not hide this, we speak about it absolutely openly,” – he added.

As reported, on September 6, 2023, with the support of the police and the terrorist defense, the chaplains of the OCU and the UGCC seized the UOC Church of Borys and Hlib in Vyshgorod. Among others, the notorious “chaplain” of the UGCC Nikolai Medinsky, known for his participation in raider attacks on UOC churches in the Carpathian region, took part in the seizure.