Collaborationism – OCU says why Alexander Nevsky was removed from calendar
The "hierarch" of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) said he sees nothing wrong with venerating Xenia of St. Petersburg and Matrona of Moscow.
The OCU “archbishop” from Odesa, Afanasiy Yavorsky, explained why his structure removed the holy prince Alexander Nevsky from its calendar of saints.
“There are saints whom our Orthodox Church of Ukraine has excluded from the calendar – saints who are very actively promoted by the Russian Orthodox Church and are associated with collaborationism, such as Alexander Nevsky and many others. That’s why our Church has excluded them and no longer commemorates them,” Yavorsky said.
At the same time, he noted that in the OCU “there are clergy who, in one way or another, have come to love Xenia of St. Petersburg and Matrona of Moscow.” He said he sees nothing wrong with that.
It will be reminded that [OCU head] Dumenko has stated that Ukrainians should give up “Russian” saints, including Xenia of St. Petersburg.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that the OCU had removed Alexander Nevsky from the list of saints.
