UOC demands from authorities and nationalists to stop provocations in Ivano-Frankivsk

On July 26, near the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral of Ivano-Frankivsk, a protest action with the participation of a representative of the Kiev Patriarchate priest-chaplain Ivan Krakhovetsky, "Right Sector", "Svoboda" and "National Corpus" organizations was held, writes the site of the Ivano-Frankivsk diocese of the UOC.

It was reported that during the action participants shouted aggressive, offensive political slogans and accusations of anti-Ukrainian politics towards Orthodox believers and clergymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

"The Ivano-Frankivsk diocese of the UOC is distressed by these developments. It's no secret that for a long time the city authorities headed by the mayor of the city Ruslan Martsinkiv, who is a member of the Svoboda Party and has repeatedly incited openly the population of the city to aggression against the believers of the canonical Orthodox Church, is suing for the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral. However, the law and all branches of the judicial power of Ukraine have protected the parishioners of the cathedral so far.

We remind you that churches of the UOC are attended by the same Ukrainians, among whom there are those who defended and continue to defend the Motherland and its territorial integrity. Therefore, the accusations of pro-Russian politics are completely incorrect and unacceptable.

The Ivano-Frankivsk diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church headed by His Grace Bishop Tikhon, in the spirit of brotherly love and peace, asked the representatives of political organizations, priests of the UOC-KP and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church not to resort to appeals and manifestations of aggression against the Ukrainians of the Orthodox faith, who are in canonical unity and Eucharistic communion with all the Local Orthodox Churches of the world.

Also, in our opinion, such a negative, biased position in the light of politically engaged slogans will definitely bear the imprint of dubious reputation of Ukraine at the international level, as a democratic, European state with a priority of the spiritual human values and resoluteness of the rights and freedoms of its citizens," said the Appeal.