I know what the people who try to sow discord in Ukraine are guided with – Patriarch of Alexandria Theodore II

Politicians should not intrude into church affairs, it’s necessary to respect the church integrity principle, stated in the interview with RIA News Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa Theodore II, commenting on the situation in Ukraine.

«I know Ukraine very well – its bishops, believers and laymen – and I have a clear vision of what incentives drive those people who are trying to sow discord in Ukraine. From the very beginning of the church split problem, the Patriarchate of Alexandria and I as its representative assumed a position that the Ukrainian Church is an integral part of the Russian Orthodox Church,” declared the Primate.

The hierarch recalls when “schismatics tried to break into the Holy Trinity church that used to be a metochion of the Church of Alexandria in Odessa, I stood in the doors and said to them – no way!”

“The ancient Church of Alexandria articulates its position in the following way: we stand before God together with the Russian Orthodox Church and urge that Orthodox Church be integral and indivisible as it has always been. There is no place for politics in the church-related matters. Politics is fleeting, while the Church is for all eternity,” underscored Patriarch Theodore.

Patriarch Theodore is a graduate of Odessa State University, and from 1985 to 1990 was a representative of the Patriarchate of Alexandria of the Russian Church in Odessa-based metochion.