The Deputy chairman of the Department for external church relations of the UOC, archpriest Mykolai Danylevych, said that if the authorities continue to discredit the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a Montenegrin scenario is possible, reports “Pershyi Kozatskyi“.

In Montenegro, father Mykolai took part in one of the religious processions against the anti-church law. These processions of the cross attracted a huge number of believers, short prayers were held, after which the Montenegrin metropolitan Amphilochius delivered sermons, denounced the secular authorities and personally the Montenegrin President Djukanovic for restricting the rights of the Church.

“I stood nearby and heard him speak openly about everything. We hope that the situation will resolve itself, we try to remain calm, but the wisdom is to understand where to act as lord Amphilochius did, who proved the effectiveness of this path, because the anti-church law has been changed, and where, as in our case, it is still better to be patient. But when the need arises, we will follow the path of lord Amphilochius. Every Sunday our churches are visited by about 2 million people, on big holidays there are even more and the same number of believers will take to the streets of cities and towns, if it is necessary to defend religious rights,” said the speaker of the UOC.

The Orthodox in Montenegro are more united than in Ukraine: half of the population took to the streets of the towns of Montenegro in defense of the Orthodox Church. But, if necessary, numerous believers will take to the streets of Ukrainian cities and towns to defend the rights of the canonical Church.