Kniazhytskyi: "The decision to recognize the UOC as affiliated with the ROC is overdue"

Ukrainian MP Mykola Kniazhytskyi believes that the decision of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience to recognize the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as «affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church» is important but overdue. He said this on the air of Espreso TV.

«Of course, this is a very important decision, and I welcome it, but it has not yet had any impact on the Russian Church in Ukraine. And it should have. We are talking about this far too late. It should have been done earlier, because the Russian Church and Russian cultural influence through language and cultural products on Ukrainian society actually open us up to aggression,» the MP said.

He noted that the UOC undermines Ukrainians’ ability to resist aggression, and therefore the state should have taken more decisive measures.

«I believe this should have been done long ago, and now we need to act decisively. And that is precisely why, by the way, Russia continues to demand the mass spread of the Russian language, its recognition as official. They say: no, not as a state language – but recognize it officially and repeal all laws protecting the Ukrainian language. And also – the full permission for the Russian Church to operate, which is not a church but a sect promoting anti-Christian teaching under the guidance of the FSS,» Kniazhytskyi added.

It should also be recalled that Mykola Kniazhytskyi believes Ukraine could adopt the experience of many other countries and at least provide basic social protection for the clergy of the OCU. He complained that the personnel shortage in the OCU is largely due to the extremely low level of salaries and social security in the organization.