"Expect SBU": MP responds to accusations of inciting religious hatred
Solomiya Bobrovska. Photo: Bobrovska's Facebook
MP from the "Voice" faction Solomiya Bobrovska recorded a video address in which she responded to believers of the UOC of the Rivne region who accused her of inciting religious hatred.
"Apologists of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Rivne region are starting to massively record videos and some of their wishes, accusing me of inciting religious hatred, as well as threatening God's punishment. I want to say that the Divine Service actually exists for you (Bobrovska means the SBU – Ed.), and I hope that it will also work with you systematically," the people's deputy stated.
She emphasized that the State Service for Ethnopolitics "recognized the ties of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC with the Russian Orthodox Church," omitting that court proceedings are still ongoing regarding this decision.
The deputy reported that more than 210 criminal cases have been initiated in Ukraine against clerics and hierarchs of the UOC under articles on state treason, encroachment on the constitutional order, production of prohibited symbols, incitement of interethnic hatred and collaborationism. She did not specify what all this has to do with millions of UOC believers.
"Let's not talk about intimidation, emotions and sins. Let's talk about state security," Bobrovska declared, addressing UOC parishioners. According to her, UOC believers "voluntarily or involuntarily, consciously or unconsciously" become agents of a "religious network that brings missiles, bombs, violence and occupation to Ukraine." The MP did not specify how exactly believers become "network agents."
It should be recalled that earlier Bobrovska sent an appeal to the Rivne City Council in which she called the charitable festival organized by the Rivne Eparchy for children with cancer a threat to national security. At the festival, UOC believers raised more than 210 thousand hryvnias to help children with cancer. After this, UOC parishioners in the Rivne region began massively recording video appeals accusing the people's deputy of inciting religious hatred.
Read also
Lavra reserve head estimates damage to Dormition Cathedral at €15 million
Maksym Ostapenko said restoring the Dormition Cathedral would take at least a couple of years and require major funding.
DESS official says state should not govern the Church
A DESS official called for cooperation between the state and the Church for the benefit of citizens.
Poltava court upholds mobilization of Protestant pastor
A court in the Poltava region ruled that a prior criminal conviction and religious beliefs do not exempt a person from military service.
Ostapenko: Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra would not exist without Soviet-era reserve
The reserve director spoke about the Soviet museum’s role in saving the monastery, while stressing the need to rethink its history.
Metropolitan Anthony criticizes DESS order on Boryspil Eparchy
The UOC chancellor rejected officials’ findings, pointing to procedural violations in the DESS review.
Two more parishes in Sloviansk reregistered under OCU
The organizer behind the transfer of UOC communities in Sloviansk said the reregistration of churches would continue.