The seizures of churches in Ukraine are provoked by the ongoing propaganda against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This was stated by the chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk in the program “Church and World”, writes “Pravlife”.

“I really hope that the public both in Ukraine and abroad will finally pay attention to the lawlessness that was happening under President Poroshenko and which, unfortunately, has not been completely exhausted, because from time to time we continue to hear about seizures of churches, and the propaganda that leads to these seizures continues, “- said Metropolitan Hilarion.

As the bishop recalled, the essence of the propaganda directed against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church boils down to the fact that it is allegedly the “fifth column of the Kremlin”, that it is the “Russian Church in Ukraine,” while in fact it is the national Church of Ukraine, uniting the majority of Orthodox believers. and the members of this Church were mainly born and raised in Ukraine, they have Ukrainian passports.

“As long as this illegal propaganda continues, unfortunately, the seizure of churches will continue,” says Metropolitan Hilarion.

The bishop expressed the hope that “the propaganda will be stopped and that the Orthodox believers in Ukraine will be allowed to live in peace.”