When politicians fail in all other spheres, they tackle a church issue, - expert

“It has become customary in our country to interfere into church matters,” noted Andrey Zolotariov, Chairman of the Analytical Center “Third Sector”, commenting on today’s Message of the President’s of Ukraine to the Verkhovna Rada.

Out of the mouth of the secular country’s President where the Church is separated from the state, it is somewhat bizarre to hear about the necessity of creating a Local Church. I think, though, not the last part was played by a humanitarian aspect: due to zero real achievements one must create an illusion the life “anew,” emphasized the political expert.

Andrey Zolotariov remarked that in the first line it is the economy growth to be mostly concerned about, and then move on to other things. The political expert underscored that loud statements of the President are most likely to remain “hot air.”

“The President spoke not of the GDP growth possibilities, ways of overcoming poverty, resolving other social issues. He only boasted of how many monuments to Lenin have been dismantled. In particular, he avoided talks about the language policy in Ukraine. By all accounts, there will be no further actions with regard to the Church in the nearest future – only declarations. There will be other things to deal with – for instance, an increased social tension or intense political fight. There’s no point making another seat of tension. Being smart, Poroshenko is quite aware of the implications of the state’s interference into internal church affairs. We’d rather not compare such behavior to an elephant in a china shop, yet the effects might be similar. Therefore, intentions have been shaped, of course, but it seems to me this issue will not be exaggerated in the near time,” Andrey Zolotariov concluded.

Political expert Mihail Pavliv, director of the Humanitarian Strategies Fund, believes that today the President voiced his team strategy towards the church issue:

“I was a witness to the rhetoric I’m accustomed to. It’s perfectly clear this church-related strategy is not accidental for the President and his team. Their goal is to significantly weaken the influence of the canonical Orthodox Church on its parish, if they fail to create a Local Church. Especially, if we take into account that their strategy was severely baffled by the Cross Procession that was held in July.”

Political experts expressed their opinion on the probable solution of the church issue, which was voiced by President Petro Poroshenko in his Message to the Verkhovna Rada. In particular, the state leader mentioned about the need to create a single local autocephalous Church in Ukraine.