Metropolitan Anthony: Every Christian is a fighter for church unity
Church unity is based on the fact that the Head of our Church is our Lord Jesus Christ, the UOC hierarch noted.
Unity is one of the fundamental principles of the Church’s existence, and every Christian is a fighter for it, explained the UOC Chancellor, Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary (Pakanich).
“Every person who not only theoretically knows something about the Church but lives his/her life and is an integral part of the Church itself understands that it is possible to live only in unity. And the church unity is based on the fact that the Head of our Church is our Lord Jesus Christ,” Vladyka Anthony emphasized in a video message to the flock published on his YouTube channel.
He recalled that any division is a property of sin, which splits and divides everything around. Therefore, a true Christian fights for unity by overcoming their own sinfulness.
“A person who leads a Christian life, lives according to the commandments of God, he/she just tries, firstly, through overcoming sin, to unite in himself all the properties of human nature in one harmony in order to have a direct connection with God,” said the UOC hierarch. “And in such an external manifestation, of course, every Christian is a fighter for church unity.”
Metropolitan Anthony explained that the struggle for unity is not an external activity.
“In fact, a true Christian is a fighter with himself. And when we overcome sinfulness, we overcome this fragmentation of human life,” he said to the flock.
According to the bishop, sin always tries to penetrate into the body of the Church and fragment people. For such a dissociation, sin often uses significant categories, social and national, trying to shift the meaning of church life and convince people that the Church should build "paradise on earth”.
“In fact, the Church should always testify only that there is a God who constantly cares for the human soul,” Vladyka Anthony concluded.
Earlier, he spoke about three steps to achieve peace in the Donbass.
