ROC cleric: Patriarch should be above state interests
Archpriest of the Russian Orthodox Church Oleg Steniaev noted that Ukrainians and Russians are not one nation, since they live in different states.
Archpriest Oleg Steniaev, a Russian missionary, publicist and theologian, said that the Patriarch should stand above national and state interests. The priest said this during an interview with the publishing house of the Sretensky Monastery, commenting on the war of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.
According to the priest, the Primate of the Ukrainian Church should take care of the Ukrainian flock, while the head of the Russian Church should take care of the Russian one.
“The situation is different when it comes to the Patriarch. He should be above national and state interests. Because the Patriarch is the Patriarch of all who are under his omophorion.”
Also, the cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church noted that it is not entirely correct to call Ukrainians and Russians one nation.
“The Bible says that God put a limit on habitation for every people, and it is not necessary to say that we are one nation. If we are two different countries, then this is no longer one nation. The country imposes citizenship on everyone, and we must remember our country as a certain border of responsibility, which is outlined by the hand of God. By the will of the Creator, we are born in this nation, in this country, in this family,” Father Oleg Steniaev said.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to the head of the DECR UOC, history knows cases of reconciliation between peoples after the end of the war.
