The trial of the Abbot of the Kyiv Caves Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel, has become an example of the Ukrainian judicial system’s turning into a system of repression and abuse of human dignity. The court session was scheduled for Friday, and it was deliberately protracted until late at night so as to create a situation when a man is jailed for at least two days without an opportunity to post bail. It is a blatant attempt to put pressure on the metropolitan with a view to breaking his will.
The prosecutor requested a severe sanction for the metropolitan: keeping in custody with the right of bail in the amount of 60 mln UAH. The court reduced that sum to 33.3 mln UAH. Think about this figure. The head of the Ternopil Regional Council, Mykhailo Holovko, who had been caught taking a bribe, posted bail in the amount of 805 thousand UAH and returned to his duties. People’s Deputy Serhiy Alekseev, who had also been caught taking a bribe, posted bail in the amount of 2.2 mln UAH on 4 July. But another measure is applied towards the metropolitan. Holovko and Alekseev are part of the system. They are charged with acts of corruption, to which our authorities are more than tolerant.
The case of Metropolitan Pavel is of another kind. It is an attempt to stage a trial of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, to organise demonstrative proceedings in order to intimidate other members of the hierarchy, the monks of the Kyiv Caves Lavra, and laymen. The authorities have long ago set a course for the destruction of the Church and the eradication of true Orthodoxy; therefore, they will stage legal shows, nullifying the very concepts of justice, legality, fairness. It is obvious that the case of Metropolitan Pavel is mainly a political commission. And the names of the main orderers, who encourage lawlessness, are well known.
Let those who accuse the metropolitan of inciting religious enmity answer: and how can their actions be characterised? Isn’t the activity to destroy the UOC incitement of religious enmity? Aren’t seizures of churches, the forcible change of church jurisdiction, a conspiracy to transfer the Lavra and a number of churches under the control of the Ecumenical Patriarch, and the eviction of the monks from the Lavra incitement of religious enmity?
I wish Metropolitan Pavel strength of spirit and faith in God’s mercy. Obviously, the Lord is checking all of us for faithfulness. The Church is going through a period of new persecutions, and only he who endures to the end and does not lose faith will be saved. And the persecutors of the Church have chosen an unenviable fate for themselves: both a just earthly judgement and the Righteous Judgement of the Lord await all of them irrespective of their posts and offices, merits and ranks.
The fools do not understand that God’s Judgement provides for no bails, and the Judgement of history often turns to dust even majestic monarchs and dictators.