Metropolitan Anthony commented on the attempt to seize the Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Chernivtsi by supporters of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine

The administrator of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich) of Boryspil and Brovary, commented on the raid by supporters of the OCU on the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the UOC in Chernivtsi. The bishop noted that the media is publishing a completely distorted picture of events, accusing not those who beat priests and believers of the UOC, but the Church itself. He spoke about this in a comment to the publication “Orthodox Life.”

«Once again, church news resources have been stirred up by another attack on an Orthodox church. Once again, believers and clergy are being beaten and slandered in every way possible. And once again, the interested press is distorting the truth. There are two communities that call themselves Christian. How can we understand which of them is truly Christian and which is only wearing the appropriate label? Both communities claim the same church. The first community built it, maintained it, and filled it with prayer. The second has no connection to it, but believes that this church belongs to it according to some secular laws. And so the second community organizes a violent attack on the disputed church: armed raiders break into the sanctuary, rampage, destroy, rob the church treasury, beat believers, priests, bishops… For an impartial observer who is at least somewhat familiar with the principles of Christianity, everything is obvious: a community cannot be Christian if it behaves so demonstratively in an unchristian manner. One can talk about political expediency, secular laws, revolutionary necessity, and anything else, but all this has nothing to do with Christianity,» — says Metropolitan Anthony.

The bishop added that despite the obvious facts of the attack on clergy and believers of the UOC in Chernivtsi, secular and anti-church media outlets are covering the events as if the UOC itself were to blame for what happened.

«It would seem that everything is clear. The Lord says: ‘A tree is known by its fruit’ (Matthew 12:33). How can you sincerely pray in a church that you have forcibly taken away, shedding blood? But, unfortunately, a whole chorus of bloggers, journalists, religious scholars, and “fighters for freedom of conscience” accuse not those who seize churches through deception and violence, not those who beat and rob, but those who are persecuted, beaten, and robbed of their property. It turns out that the believers and clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are to blame because they dare to defend their own shrines, because they continue to remain faithful to the Church in which they were baptized, because they are in no hurry to unite with their oppressors. But now you can’t even call a rapist a rapist, because that’s immediately seen as “inciting religious hatred and hostility.” Isn’t that crazy? But these are the times we live in, times of total madness, manipulation, and lies. We are left with one thing: despite everything, not to become embittered, not to repay evil with evil, but to continue to stand in the truth, because where there is truth, there is Christ, and only in Him is there salvation,» — the hierarch concluded.

Earlier, Georgiy Mazurashu, a member of the Ukrainian parliament from the Servant of the People party, called on law enforcement agencies to identify and punish supporters of the OCU who attempted to attack the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Chernivtsi.