Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia disapproves strongly the attacks on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

December 23, 2015. Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Kirill disapproved the attacks and illegal occupations of churches in Ukraine by ultranationalists and urged for the unifying role of the religious hierarchy towards national unity, as the website prenglish reports.

His Holiness expressed his concern about the incidents in the orthodox church, under the canonical jurisdiction of Moscow Patriarchate, in the Ukrainian village of Ptichiya, where armed extremists from the Right Sector party threw self-made bombs, and a group of Kiev Patriarchate attacked worshipers with sticks and stones.

Patriarch Kirill said that, with visible social fragmentation and struggle for power, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the only force that can unite the people, from north to south and from east to west.

The Head of the Russian Orthodox Church warned that this policy of attacks against the Church and the believers, encourages divisions among the Ukrainian people and he regretted that the internal forces are not working to achieve unity and reconciliation.