The hierarch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Mykhailo (Zinkevych) of Volyn and Lutsk, explained why he removed the portrait of honorary patriarch Filaret from his office, replacing it with a large cross with the Jesus Christ crucifixion.
A journalist with the Pershyi outlet noted that in 2017, Filaret’s portrait used to hang on the wall in the bishop’s office, but now it is gone. Therefore she wondered what had changed since then?
“At that time the church was maturing, such symbolism was required. As of now, I’ve changed my opinion,” said Metropolitan Mykhailo.
“I can’t say that I don’t see authority in anyone. But I had the opportunity to confront (pause – ed.) such peculiar human qualities as I decided that it was necessary to return to where I started off. I said to myself: Who did you choose to follow? It was Christ! So put him out there!” the metropolitan said.
It will be recalled that Metropolitan Mykhailo said 20 priests and 130 new parishes in Volyn had joined the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, switching from the ROCinU.
“We have more or less 130 new parishes. This is the largest number in Ukraine. Thank God, it happened with minimal confrontation. That is, in 98% of cases, people simply voted they didn’t want to remain under Russian occupation. Only 2% of the cases saw certain misunderstandings with the priests and someone tried to prove something to someone. We never interfered, in any case,” said Metropolitan Mykhailo (Zinkevych).
