Putin: “The church schism may become bloody”
The level of interference in church life in Ukraine is unprecedented for the post-Soviet space. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced this today at a large press conference in Moscow.
“What is happening to Orthodoxy is incomprehensible to the mind - direct intervention of the state in church religious life. This has never happened before since the days of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, this is now happening in Ukraine. They created a schismatic Church of the Istanbul parish. If you don’t like the Moscow one, you’ll have the Istanbul one,” Putin said.
Journalists responded with applause, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
He recalled that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is completely independent. She independently elected hierarchs.
“The only connection was spiritual. They mentioned the Patriarch of Moscow at the services. And now, look at the dependence that comes from the Turkish Patriarch. There are appointments and money. I think this is Bartholomew's main motive, besides, of course, tips from Washington. The fact that the Secretary of State called Kiev on this issue and discussed this topic does not go anywhere,” Putin said.
In his opinion, church reforms in Ukraine are directly related to the election campaign in this state and are aimed at breaking ties with Russia.
“This is politically motivated. There is nothing good here for religious freedoms in general. The most worrying thing is that this will be followed by a redistribution of church property. In fact, he is already on his way. All this can become serious, if not bloody. God forbid it comes to this,” Putin said.
Putin : "The Church schism could become bloody"