Protestants tried to disrupt the discussion on the persecution of the UOC during the work of the World Council of Churches, - head of the DECR of the Russian Orthodox Church

The head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, spoke about the problems faced by the Russian Orthodox Church delegation in disseminating information about the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church during the work of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC). According to the bishop, representatives of certain Protestant denominations were particularly active in obstructing the discussion on state repression of the UOC, claiming that the facts presented by the ROC delegation allegedly have no evidence. The head of the ROC DECR said this in an interview with RIA Novosti.

«At the initiative of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church, a lengthy discussion of the situation of the canonical Church in Ukraine took place. Just before this discussion, horrific footage from Chernivtsi was spread around the world, where militants supported by the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” — Ukrainian schismatics — attempted to seize the cathedral. This was accompanied by the beating of clergymen, including the ruling bishop of the Chernivtsi diocese, Metropolitan Meletiy (Yegorenko) of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna. Many members of the Central Committee saw this footage,» — the bishop noted.

According to Metropolitan Anthony, despite the video evidence of the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, representatives of certain Protestant denominations tried to disrupt the discussion on this topic.

“When we discussed this issue, I was struck by the cynicism with which some representatives of churches, especially Protestant ones, pointed to the alleged ”unproven» facts that we cited and tried to disrupt the discussion. However, following the vote, the Secretary General of the World Council of Churches was instructed to study this issue and express concern about the oppression of believers in this country in contacts with the Ukrainian authorities,» — Metropolitan Anthony added.

Earlier we reported that the National Council of Churches of Denmark criticized the position of the World Council of Churches on the adoption by the Ukrainian government of anti-church law No. 3894 (formerly No. 8371), aimed at banning the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Danish Council of Churches believes that the law does not contradict the norms of Ukrainian and European legislation. In addition, it is pointed out that the World Council of Churches, in defending the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, is playing along with the Russian Orthodox Church and Patriarch Kirill.