We dreamed of banning the UOC for many years, - OCU lobbyist Samokhvalova

Yaroslava Mishchenko, a lobbyist for the OCU and editor-in-chief of the website “Orthodox Ukraine,” also known as Lana Samokhvalova, expressed her joy that the state will soon ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Mishchenko noted that without the bishops, clergy, and believers of the UOC, the world “will definitely become better and safer.” She wrote about this on her Facebook account.

“We are half a step away from a court ban on the Moscow Patriarchate. It is a very difficult path, and I am very glad that the authorities have been pursuing this course of cleansing the spiritual space for ten years. And I sincerely embrace the ”minister of religion» Viktor Yelensky, whose program for dismantling the MP was finally accepted and was optimal. We have dreamed of banning this structure for many years, since the annexation of Crimea. But even with our boldest dreams, we always asked the believers, clergy, and bishops of the MP. Come join us. Come join us, we are family. At all levels, private, official, semi-official. As in the case of Lavra, it was important for me to know that we (the authorities, the Church at all levels, believers) did everything to ensure that dialogue and unity took place. And I know that we did everything,» — Mishchenko wrote.

The journalist added that despite all the steps taken by the state “towards the UOC,” the Church refused to show loyalty. In this regard, in her opinion, without the bishops, clergy, and believers of the UOC, the world “will definitely become better and safer.”

«They (the UOC, ed.) did not take any of the steps proposed by the ‘Ministry of Religions’. The simplest ones. The most obvious ones. Just to come out and announce to all local churches and ask them to withdraw from the governing bodies of the Russian Orthodox Church. Zero effort. Instead, I see godless bishops manipulating believers, narrow-minded priests, gullible elderly believers who march on pilgrimage and see the enemy not in Putin, but in the heads of the Ukrainian Church and state. As of today: we are still open to everyone. As for the future… Next, most likely, court… De jure, the MP will not exist. De jure, it will not be. De facto, this community will exist until the last believer, and it is unlikely to be recreated. When this is finally done, I will say to myself and to everyone: we have done the almost impossible. It could not have been done otherwise. Thank God. Our world will definitely be better without them. And safer,» — concluded the OCU lobbyist.