"It is bad to be a fanatic of religion," Archbishop Athanasius

TheIntent continues a series of video conversations with clergymen from southern Ukraine, which aims to show as broad and complete a picture of religious life in the region as possible. We have already visited Father Oleksandr Smerechynsky and the abbess of the Holy Archangel Michael Monastery of the UOC (MP), Seraphima Shevchyk. Now we offer you a conversation with the<span>head of the Odesa Eparchy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Archbishop </span>Afanasiy.

<span>As it turned out, the archbishop is not a typical clergyman - he listens to Rammstein and reads fantasy. He has a difficult background: in 2013, he was appointed Bishop of Luhansk and Starobilsk of the UOC (KP), and in 2019, he was appointed to the OCU. After that, Bishop Athanasius was appointed to the Odesa see, and in 2023 he was elevated to the rank of archbishop. Intent talked to him about why so few parishes in the Odesa region are moving to the OCU. By the way, it is the South that provides the most Orthodox chaplains. Meanwhile, the master of theology warns that it is bad to be a fanatic of religion.</span>

Archbishop Athanasius

Earlier, Intent talked to Father Oleksandr Smerechynsky, a well-known naval chaplain in Odesa, a confessor of the local Euromaidan and deputy head of the Department of Maritime Apostolate of the UGCC, about how he supports sailors who survived rocket attacks, why war makes people act instinctively to survive, how to preserve humanity in the most terrible conditions, and whether the state should prepare citizens for psychological shocks. Interviews about sailors and preparations for war, why the UGCC will not join the OCU, how the Moscow Patriarchate manipulates signs, and what to expect from the new Pope are also available on Intent's YouTube channel.

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