The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has everything you need for the service of God and people. This was said by his Beatitude Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine Onufry in his exclusive interview to the TV program “Morning on inter”, said “FOMA in Ukraine”.
– Today we are sucked into the format of a political party. To Christ we were heading, but some of the politicians. If I wanted to be a politician, I would be, I would such clothes are not worn, and immediately went into politics. Although in my youth I had such a chance. I held them back. Wearing spiritual clothes, I have to think and care about the spiritual. And those people who put on robes and engaged in an effective policy to build all sorts of geopolitical plans, is simply dishonest people, who are unable to be real priests, made himself some werewolves, so that through your spiritual way to attract people’s attention. It’s not fair. Before God, these people will have really hard to answer.
We are an independent Church. And we have all the attributes of independence that we need today for normal service of God and people.
We have our own Synod, independent from anyone. We have the Council of bishops, independent from anybody, the decision of our Council of independent — nobody has the right to veto them. We have a Church court, which is the final authority. We all have our own: we have economic, administrative independence,… Tomos is the limitation of freedom that we have today. We do not need. We have independence, autonomy, have all the attributes of free life needed for successful Church of spiritual service to people.
What we have with the Moscow Patriarchate, spiritual, devotional, canonical, and cultural ties — this is normal. It should be so. The Church is not a political organization, which one loves and another hates, and tomorrow will be the opposite. The Church loves everybody, we love everybody. We love Moscow, we love Russians, we love Americans, we loved Africans, we love Asians we all love. We have no enemies. We have enemies who oppose us, but they are not our enemies. We pray about them.
The Patriarchate of Constantinople has sent to Ukraine two of his exarchs. This uncanonical action of the Church of Constantinople. She has no right to send our an independent Church of their legates, and their exarchs.
She was once a powerful Church, embraced the civilized world. She is identified themselves with the Byzantine Empire, the Byzantine Empire encompassed almost the whole world, and the Church was equivalent to it. But today there is no Byzantine Empire, they live in the past. And instead of a large state, which was the Byzantine Empire, today Turkey, where the Orthodox faith is not. The Orthodox can be counted on the fingers. They and their homeland have brought to such a state that she was from an Orthodox powerful state turned into a Muslim state. And they now want us to command, to teach how we should live?
They want our Ukraine is also to bring to this state, as they have brought their homeland? They have no moral or canonical right to appoint exarchs in here and intervene in our Affairs.
Interference in the Affairs of another Church is anti-Catholic, anticanonical action is a sin. And sin leads to separation of people. This sin of intervention in the Affairs of our Church can create rifts on a global scale.
The Church cannot live by the standards of worldly life. The life of this world, especially political, mixed with intrigue, deception, betrayal… — kit of all evil. The Church cannot live by such norms, She lives the commandments of Christ. We have our own methods of dealing with evil. This prayer, penance, patience, humility before each other and before God. It is a powerful weapon that destroys evil.
A priest is called to be a peacemaker, not a politician that divides people. And the ideology that is promoted today, is not God’s ideology, because that ideology, which is now implanted in our society, becomes anti-Christian. The legitimization of same-sex marriages, abortion, suicide, etc. — all contrary to Christ. God does not bless people to do it. The Church fulfills its mission — It leads a man to God, reminds people that we are all creations of God, and that God calls us all to love each other, to tolerate each other and help each other.
I know that our Church will be before the end of the world, because the Lord said that the gates of hell shall not prevail against It.
I would like to appeal to all the faithful of our Church. Don’t be afraid. Be steadfast in their love for God. Keep the purity of the Holy Orthodox faith, it is the road that leads man to God. Love each other, tolerate each other, help each other.
Evil will pass and the good will live forever. If we all suffer, to live in love to all and to each other, there is no evil we won’t win. God is a God of power and evil force there. We live with God and be joyful, happy and blessed.