Greek Catholic Church Calls on Ukrainians to Take Their Vote Seriously

The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Patriarch Sviatoslav, commented on the address of the traditional Churches of Ukraine to the faithful and all people of goodwill on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the referendum on the Act of Declаration of Ukrainian Independence, reported the Information Department of the UGCC.

According to him, a lot is spoken today about the civil society and responsibility of our people for their state as it is what the church teaches its faithful.

“We cannot wait for someone to build our state for us and cannot shift the responsibility for the situation in the society to some group of politicians. In my opinion, political forces should understand that the people are the source of power in a democratic society.” And, according to him, the people should show and manifest it.

“We will welcome any manifestation of conscious, responsible civil society and will encourage our people to think in earnest for whom to vote,” said the hierarch.

He also reminded that the church repeatedly called the people “not to sell their votes as we assume responsibility for the subsequent actions of the force for which we vote.”

Therefore, the church waits for a responsible response of the civil society in the context of next year’s election.

“At the same time, we never did in the past and will never encourage anyone in the future to vote for any particular political force,” said the hierarch. For, in his opinion, spiritual leaders must be the voice of the truth.