The UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate took away an award from a military man because he is gay: details

Military Viktor Pylypenko

Victor Pylypenko’s Facebook page

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate annulled the award to the military Viktor Pylypenko because of his sexual orientation and LGBT propaganda.

The fighter received a medal “Sacrifice and love for Ukraine“ On February 8, when His Holiness Patriarch Filaret awarded the personnel of the medical post of the 1st mechanized battalion of the 72nd separate mechanized brigade named after the Black Zaporozhians of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the UOC (KP) reported.

The annulment of the award was the church’s reaction to Pylypenko’s post, in which he noted that the medal allegedly signifies a change in the UOC (KP)’s position on the LGBT community.

“Based on the fact that Patriarch Filaret took such a step and thanked me, an open gay and human rights activist, for protection – presented a medal with his signature and seal, he and the Kyiv Patriarchate headed by him have radically changed their position towards LGBT+ people and no longer consider us “sinful“ and those that are the cause of the coronavirus“, – the soldier wrote on Facebook.

The UOC says that it is “outright manipulation and lies“. They emphasized that, based on the foundations of the Holy Scriptures, they always have a negative attitude towards same-sex marriages and the promotion of homosexual sexual relations.

“We thank the soldier Viktor Pylypenko (as well as all our defenders for protecting our freedom and territorial integrity) for his military merits, but we do not share his sinful preferences and LGBT agitation.

We inform you that in view of the open propaganda of a sinful ideology and the denial of the existence of God, the church award to Viktor Pylypenko dated February 8, 2024, Decree No. 27468, is to be considered annulled“, – the message says.

Subsequently, the fighter Viktor Pylypenko reacted by stripping him of his award.

“Friends, I only recognize awards from the people of Ukraine, to whom I gave the Oath.

I even wrote words of gratitude to Filaret, naively imagining that he had deliberately awarded me and showed his colleagues a Christian, undeniably noble gesture, a guide to reconciliation and mutual respect for gays, atheists, people of other faiths. But everything turned out to be more prosaic“, – says Pylypenko.

We previously reported that 67% of Ukrainians support equal rights for the LGBT community.