Elena Khruleva
Ukrainian Orthodox Church
On 1 December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a decision of the National Security and Defense Council
to take measures against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It refers to the adoption of legislation on the prohibition of religious organizations affiliated with Russia to operate in Ukraine. This bill would directly infringe on the rights of Ukrainian believers.
This initiative is not the first attempt of this kind. In 2022, there were several relevant draft laws brought to the Verkhovna Rada. They were aimed at prohibiting the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as religious organizations that are part of it or acknowledge subordination to it in canonical, administrative, and other issues, on the territory of Ukraine. They targeted the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which is canonically a part of the
Russian Orthodox Church, although it is a self-governing church with broad powers of autonomy de facto and legally (according to the current Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church as well).
According to Vakhtang Kipshidze, deputy chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church's Synodal Department for Relations with Society and the Mass Media, who spoke at the roundtable held at the Rossiya Segodnya news agency, the pressure on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church started long ago, even before the special military operation was launched.
An organization known as the
Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) was established under the initiative of former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in 2018. It was set against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The above was followed by increased pressure on the UOC, which transformed into full-scale persecution with the commencement of the special military operation. Churches, clergy, and believers of the canonical UOC have been increasingly attacked by nationalists and supporters of the schismatic PCU.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has been initiating criminal cases against UOC clergy, and conducting searches at bishops' and priests' residencies, as well as in churches and monasteries. The aim is to find evidence of "anti-Ukrainian activities."
"It is not for their actions, which allegedly contradict Ukrainian law, that clerics have been taken hostage by the Ukrainian authorities, but rather by virtue of their very affiliation with the UOC. Their aim is to threaten the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, push it to unite with the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and lose its identity, its image, and its clergy," Mr. Kipshidze noted.
The representative of the Russian Orthodox Church is convinced that the evidence allegedly found during the clerics' detention was nothing but a farce. In his words, the fact that the Russian and Ukrainian peoples have a shared history is evident. It has been documented in thousands of historical books, and literary writings, as well as culture and art. The expert believes that Ukrainian officials have established an environment where anything that supports the idea of unity between the Russian and Ukrainian people would be perceived as state treason.
"This is an outrageous situation that does not provoke any reaction from Western states motivated by political expediency," Mr. Kipshidze pointed out.
In April 2022, the arrest of Andrey Pavlenko, archpriest of the St. Tikhvin Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, was one of the first instances of direct pressure on Ukrainian religious figures. Having been tortured and beaten, the cleric from Lisichansk was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the Ukrainian court for alleged ties with Russian intelligence.
Following his recent release from Ukrainian captivity, Father Andrey shared the details of his arrest and incarceration in the Dnepropetrovsk detention center. He had been subjected to beatings and torture. They wanted him to confess to untruths of work for the Russian intelligence service.
The cleric reported that the Ukrainian fighters' demands also included public condemnation of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus', an appeal urging all UOC parishes to submit to the authority of the PCU and provide all kinds of assistance in the fight against Russia.
Furthermore, Mr. Pavlenko spoke of the pressure exerted by Ukrainian security forces on the priests to present the damage caused by the Ukrainian shelling of cities as consequences of the activities of the Russian forces, "to reveal the barbarity of the Russian side".
The archpriest of the St. Tikhvin Cathedral of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church urged the international community to stop the illegal detentions of clerics in Ukraine. He believes that persecution of the UOC clerics would be ongoing.
"I would like to urge the world community to stop it because those acts are of remoted dark ages that are not to be remembered or even mentioned in our states," the cleric stressed.
Ivan Melnikov, vice president of the Russian branch of the International Human Rights Committee, helped secure the release of Archpriest Andrey Pavlenko. According to him, more than 100 UOC clerics from various communities are currently behind bars on similar allegations of state treason and collaboration with the Russian secret services. The human rights activist added that the charges appeared weird, unsubstantiated, and lacking any evidence.
"In my opinion, attacks on church ministers are unacceptable. I hope that the international community takes note of this and will be able to stop it," Mr. Melnikov said in conclusion.
The human rights advocate mentioned the appeal to the OSCE secretary general concerning the persecution of church representatives in Ukraine. He urged the international organization to recognize the mass oppression and discrimination of Orthodox clerics, which violates many laws, as well as international norms and regulations.
A general resolution urging the Ukrainian authorities to release or pardon arrested UOC representatives (as well as members of the Jewish community) and to prohibit the persecution of UOC representatives was suggested by Mr. Melnikov. Such a solution would serve to cease the persecution of clerics from various denominations not only in Ukraine but all over the world.
This is a very complicated situation for the UOC priests. Having been asked whether it was possible to further exchange detained Ukrainian priests for captured AFU fighters, Ivan Melnikov pointed out that as a result, the canonical church would be exposed to even more persecution.
"The situation there is extremely tense, yet, it is important to be human. One cannot act like a terrorist and take a certain category of citizens hostage with the aim of exchanging them or negotiating some conditions," the human rights advocate stated.
Mira Terada, head of the Foundation to Battle Injustice, outlined the political features that reflect an unprecedented wave of persecution against the Christian faith and its followers. The above include defamation of the ministers and believers by regarding them as immoral people who do not follow the Holy Scriptures, criticism of Christian values in the media and extensive atheistic campaigns, touting of LGBT values, pressure on ministers to recognize the above values as part of the Christian faith, persecution of priests in particularly religious countries, an outbreak of cases when churches, temples, and church facilities are burned down.
“It is not the Moscow Patriarchate that is under attack by Zelensky and his law enforcement agencies, but the entire system of Christianity. Under the guise of combating Moscow, Zelensky is actually destroying the Christian faith, which is the foundation of Ukrainian society," the human rights advocate claimed.
The representative of the Foundation to Battle Injustice believes that the efficient confrontation with the efforts to de-Christianize Ukraine requires the involvement of influential allies among Christians in Western countries and in Latin America. This refers not only to Orthodox Christians in Romania, Greece, and Bulgaria. Ms. Terada is convinced that a significant share of Protestants and Catholics are strongly against the persecution of Christians.
“Ï believe we will manage to find supporters who sympathize with the problem of de-Christianization in Ukraine and abroad. Our collective efforts will encourage Zelensky to renounce his repressive policies against church ministers and Christianity as a whole," concluded the human rights advocate.
