BRAMA, September 26, 2008, 1:00 pm ET
Op-ed
Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
Condemns Dinner for Iranian President in U.S.A.
The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate (UAOC) in the Diaspora criticized several Christian groups for hosting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a September 25th dinner in New York City.
“President Ahmadinejad is an anti-Semite, a Holocaust denier, and an enemy to democracy,” said Bishop Paul Peter Jesep, Public Affairs spokesperson for the UAOC in the United States by Appointment of His Beatitude Metropolitan Myfodii of Kyiv and All Ukraine.
“It’s astonishing that Christians have given credibility to a man who seeks to wipe Israel off the map, sanctions the persecution of Christians in his own country, and harbors militant hostilities toward the West and the United States in particular,” said Bishop Jesep. “Organizers and those who attended this dinner have shown extraordinarily poor judgment.”
“Although it is important to be engaged and maintain some level of dialogue even with the most diabolical-minded individuals in the hopes of changing hearts and minds,” he said, "the dinner was a misguided, inappropriate venue. Attendees have confused politics with interfaith dialogue.”
According to Bishop Jesep, “The UAOC stands with our Jewish sisters and brothers and all those who have suffered and continue to suffer at the hands of this silver-tongued despot.”
Friday, 26 September 2008
Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
Kyiv Patriarchate
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