Harm inflicted on the UOC – damage of international image of Ukraine – bishop Nikolai (Pochtovyi)
At present, when the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is being challenged, its faithful remain loyal to it, while its enemies do a lot of harm to the Church and our country. It was announced by the Chairman of the Outreach Division of Kiev diocese, bishop of Vasilkov Nikolai in the UOJ live telethon on All-Ukrainian Cross Procession-2016.
“The developments around the Ukrainian Orthodox Church inflict damage upon it. Our churches are taken away; people are pitted against one another. Yet I wouldn’t view it as harm purely for the Church. It is a trial for the Church. Historically, over 2 thousand years, we have learned to understand any trial makes the Church stronger. It gave new martyrs, new saints, and it strengthened faith of the people – members of this Church. Now the trial time has come for us to bear and I want to say gladly most Orthodox believers remain committed to the canonical Church,” underlined bishop Nikolai.
“It is our country, not the Church that suffers damage caused by such actions. Not only in the eyes of Ukrainians, but also at the international arena, in the eyes of the world community. Therefore, those who are a primary cause of these problems should ponder first and foremost on what they are doing for our state of Ukraine rather than what they are doing for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church”, he concluded.
It will be reminded on 3rd of July the UOJ began its telethon on All-Ukrainian Cross Procession-2016.
