Moscow, February 13, 2015
The representative of the Church has expressed his serious concern over the reports of seizure of the Church of Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Bolshaya Sevastianovka (Velyka Sevastianivka) village of the Ukraine’s Cherkasy region on February 12 by extremists.
“I feel certain that the attempted seizures of churches disturb the logic of the peace initiatives of Minsk (the agreements of the summit in Minsk of February 11) that gave hope for peace to many millions of people,” V. Legoida emphasized.
According to him, civil peace in the Ukraine is inseparable from the cessation of strife and disorder, marked, among other things, by the cases of violent actions towards canonical churches, repeatedly reported by Church representatives.
“The canonical Ukrainian Orthodox churches do not and cannot pose any threat to anything. This is an erroneous perception caused by the spite and hatred of recent years. And for the sake of the peace now longed for by everybody, it is necessary to give up this false perception,” said the Synodal Information Department’s chairman in conclusion.
