21 August 2024
The 20th of August 2024 will go down in the history of Ukraine as a day of shame and betrayal. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted by 265 votes the Jesuitically worded law aimed against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
This event is a direct consequence of the Ukrainian leadership's policy which has been purposefully carried out for the last ten years. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) has been attempted to be slandered, to be accused of non-existing sins, to be restricted in her activities and capabilities, and, with the beginning of the war, to be outlawed. Petro Poroshenko and later Volodymyr Zelenskyi stirred up enmity and hatred towards the Church, towards Orthodoxy, towards hierarchs and priests, towards ordinary believers: criminal cases were fabricated, churches were seized, pressure was exerted, and a wave of intolerance for the faithful of the UOC was propagated in society.
What happened on the 20th of August is unique in its essence: an attempt to legally ban the Church was made for the first time in a millennium. Even the Bolsheviks did not dare to take such a step, although they conducted a bloody persecution against Orthodoxy.
The Office of the President initially planned to time the adoption of the anti-Church law to the Independence Day. Volodymyr Zelenskyi, who emotionally states that he has achieved 'the spiritual independence of Ukraine', is actually trying to declare spiritual independence from Christ. He will now go down in history as a persecutor of the Orthodox Church.
The Ukrainian authorities have attested their anti-Christian nature by this act. An attempt to ban canonical Orthodoxy coinciding with the legalisation of cannabis, same-sex marriages, and gambling business says a lot. In fact, Ukraine is turning into a testing ground for trying out spiritual techniques with the subsequent application of the experience gained towards other countries.
A meeting of the President with the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches was held on the eve of the voting for the draft law. The representatives of other denominations supported the decision to virtually ban the UOC, some by word, and some through tacit consent. All of it resembled the session of the Sanhedrin chaired by Caiaphas which gave the wrongful verdict for Christ.
Leading jurists, including the expert and legal department of the Verkhovna Rada, have already pointed to the fact that this law contradicts the Constitution of Ukraine, human rights, and Ukraine's international commitments. But it did not stop the President and members of the Verkhovna Rada, for whom systematically violating the Constitution has already become a norm.
The anti-Church law is a result of joint actions by President Zelenskyi and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Each of them was guided by his own objectives, but at the same time, the Office of the President constantly co-ordinated its plans with the Phanar. A few days before the adoption of the law, a Ukrainian delegation visited Istanbul, agreeing on their further steps with Patriarch Bartholomew. Thus, the Ecumenical Patriarch joined the Sanhedrin. Instead of caring for the unity of Orthodoxy in the world and for the fates of the clergy and believers, Patriarch Bartholomew has made possible actions which have led to the deepening of disagreements in the Orthodox world. The tears and suffering of the Ukrainian Orthodox are on His Holiness's conscience.
Patriarch Bartholomew has plans to create the Kyiv Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, that is, one more church jurisdiction. This itself underlines the erroneousness of the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and, hence, the erroneoneousness of the policy carried out by the Phanar thus far. Emissaries of the Ecumenical Patriarch have already come to Kyiv for the preparation to create the new organisation, and it shows particularly clearly who is behind the persecution of the UOC.
The pressure upon the Church on the part of the authorities will increase tenfold after the adoption of the law. Security agencies have received an opportunity to force hierarchs and the clergy to join the exarchate through carrot and stick, dooming those who refuse to a reprisal and persecution. The authorities are consciously sowing hatred inside their own country, among Ukrainians by having divided them into 'right' and 'wrong' ones and having declared millions of the faithful of the UOC enemies, as well as by setting downright criminals and provokers on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
In fact, the Office of the President is trying to turn the Church into a hostage in the current situation: the church issue will be attempted to be used for bargaining in the negotiations with Russia, and hierarchs, priests, and laymen will be used for prisoner exchange through fabricating trumped-up criminal cases against them. We see it on the example of Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchyn and Bratslav, who has already been exchanged. We know for sure that pressure is exerted upon other hierarchs as well, who are outright blackmailed. Officials of the Security Service of Ukraine demand from them a 'voluntary' agreement to be exchanged.
The aggravation of a civil conflict in the conditions of war and devastation, when society needs unity, concentration, and rallying, is detrimental.
The UOC has always been and remains the true exponent of the purity of the faith, the true exponent of the spiritual aspirations of Ukrainians, and the true keeper of centuries-old customs of the people — from the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Volodymyr up to present days. It is our Church that is the core basis thanks to which the Ukrainian people achieved their development and preserved themselves over the centuries. And by trying to struggle against the Church, the President is encroaching upon the main value of millions of Ukrainians, both those living now and all those who were before us, — our original faith and spirituality.
We should oppose violence and hatred with our unity and love. Our strength is Christ, and in these hard days, we must show that we are the true Church of Christ. Unity, mutual help, love for each other, and the steadfastness and purity of faith are what will help us to sustain. And if we are united, the Lord will not forsake us, and they will not be able to do anything to us. We will be threatened with prisons and criminal cases, draft notifications will be deliberately sent to us, criminals and extremists will be set on us — all to make part of the Orthodox depart from their Holy Mother Church. The authorities are convinced that they will reach their goal by achieving a split-up and fragmentation in the UOC. But the Church is impossible to be defeated. We will definitely sustain. Our goal today is unity in Christ, steadfastness in faith, and sincere prayer. Our task is to endure all the trials we are faced with, for he endures to the end will be saved.
May God save us all!
All related news This event is a direct consequence of the Ukrainian leadership's policy which has been purposefully carried out for the last ten years. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) has been attempted to be slandered, to be accused of non-existing sins, to be restricted in her activities and capabilities, and, with the beginning of the war, to be outlawed. Petro Poroshenko and later Volodymyr Zelenskyi stirred up enmity and hatred towards the Church, towards Orthodoxy, towards hierarchs and priests, towards ordinary believers: criminal cases were fabricated, churches were seized, pressure was exerted, and a wave of intolerance for the faithful of the UOC was propagated in society.
What happened on the 20th of August is unique in its essence: an attempt to legally ban the Church was made for the first time in a millennium. Even the Bolsheviks did not dare to take such a step, although they conducted a bloody persecution against Orthodoxy.
The Office of the President initially planned to time the adoption of the anti-Church law to the Independence Day. Volodymyr Zelenskyi, who emotionally states that he has achieved 'the spiritual independence of Ukraine', is actually trying to declare spiritual independence from Christ. He will now go down in history as a persecutor of the Orthodox Church.
The Ukrainian authorities have attested their anti-Christian nature by this act. An attempt to ban canonical Orthodoxy coinciding with the legalisation of cannabis, same-sex marriages, and gambling business says a lot. In fact, Ukraine is turning into a testing ground for trying out spiritual techniques with the subsequent application of the experience gained towards other countries.
A meeting of the President with the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches was held on the eve of the voting for the draft law. The representatives of other denominations supported the decision to virtually ban the UOC, some by word, and some through tacit consent. All of it resembled the session of the Sanhedrin chaired by Caiaphas which gave the wrongful verdict for Christ.
Leading jurists, including the expert and legal department of the Verkhovna Rada, have already pointed to the fact that this law contradicts the Constitution of Ukraine, human rights, and Ukraine's international commitments. But it did not stop the President and members of the Verkhovna Rada, for whom systematically violating the Constitution has already become a norm.
The anti-Church law is a result of joint actions by President Zelenskyi and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Each of them was guided by his own objectives, but at the same time, the Office of the President constantly co-ordinated its plans with the Phanar. A few days before the adoption of the law, a Ukrainian delegation visited Istanbul, agreeing on their further steps with Patriarch Bartholomew. Thus, the Ecumenical Patriarch joined the Sanhedrin. Instead of caring for the unity of Orthodoxy in the world and for the fates of the clergy and believers, Patriarch Bartholomew has made possible actions which have led to the deepening of disagreements in the Orthodox world. The tears and suffering of the Ukrainian Orthodox are on His Holiness's conscience.
Patriarch Bartholomew has plans to create the Kyiv Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, that is, one more church jurisdiction. This itself underlines the erroneousness of the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and, hence, the erroneoneousness of the policy carried out by the Phanar thus far. Emissaries of the Ecumenical Patriarch have already come to Kyiv for the preparation to create the new organisation, and it shows particularly clearly who is behind the persecution of the UOC.
The pressure upon the Church on the part of the authorities will increase tenfold after the adoption of the law. Security agencies have received an opportunity to force hierarchs and the clergy to join the exarchate through carrot and stick, dooming those who refuse to a reprisal and persecution. The authorities are consciously sowing hatred inside their own country, among Ukrainians by having divided them into 'right' and 'wrong' ones and having declared millions of the faithful of the UOC enemies, as well as by setting downright criminals and provokers on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
In fact, the Office of the President is trying to turn the Church into a hostage in the current situation: the church issue will be attempted to be used for bargaining in the negotiations with Russia, and hierarchs, priests, and laymen will be used for prisoner exchange through fabricating trumped-up criminal cases against them. We see it on the example of Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchyn and Bratslav, who has already been exchanged. We know for sure that pressure is exerted upon other hierarchs as well, who are outright blackmailed. Officials of the Security Service of Ukraine demand from them a 'voluntary' agreement to be exchanged.
The aggravation of a civil conflict in the conditions of war and devastation, when society needs unity, concentration, and rallying, is detrimental.
The UOC has always been and remains the true exponent of the purity of the faith, the true exponent of the spiritual aspirations of Ukrainians, and the true keeper of centuries-old customs of the people — from the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Volodymyr up to present days. It is our Church that is the core basis thanks to which the Ukrainian people achieved their development and preserved themselves over the centuries. And by trying to struggle against the Church, the President is encroaching upon the main value of millions of Ukrainians, both those living now and all those who were before us, — our original faith and spirituality.
We should oppose violence and hatred with our unity and love. Our strength is Christ, and in these hard days, we must show that we are the true Church of Christ. Unity, mutual help, love for each other, and the steadfastness and purity of faith are what will help us to sustain. And if we are united, the Lord will not forsake us, and they will not be able to do anything to us. We will be threatened with prisons and criminal cases, draft notifications will be deliberately sent to us, criminals and extremists will be set on us — all to make part of the Orthodox depart from their Holy Mother Church. The authorities are convinced that they will reach their goal by achieving a split-up and fragmentation in the UOC. But the Church is impossible to be defeated. We will definitely sustain. Our goal today is unity in Christ, steadfastness in faith, and sincere prayer. Our task is to endure all the trials we are faced with, for he endures to the end will be saved.
May God save us all!
