Priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, disillusioned by the inaction of their leadership after the Russian invasion, are appealing to Patriarch Bartholomew for help and guidance.
Letter dated May 9, 2022
To His All-Holiness,
The Most Holy Bartholomew,
Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome,
Ecumenical Patriarch.
Your All-Holiness, Christ is Risen!
We, the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, on behalf of ourselves and our parishioners, with pain and sorrow, turn to You for help.
On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation began a war against Ukraine. For more than two months now, we have witnessed how Russian soldiers destroy Ukrainian cities and villages, launching daily air and missile strikes, not so much against military targets as against residential buildings, churches, schools, universities, hospitals, including maternity hospitals. The number of killed and wounded civilians in Ukraine is in the tens of thousands, including hundreds of children. The actions of Russian soldiers in the temporarily occupied territories amount to genocide against the Ukrainian people. The unprecedented war crimes in Mariupol, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Bucha, and other Ukrainian cities and villages have not occurred in our homeland even during World War II. The evidence of the extermination of our compatriots has shocked the entire world, provoking outrage and sympathy among all civilized nations.
During these terrible and sorrowful days, we were also shaken by the position of Moscow Patriarch Kirill, who continues to regard Ukraine as his canonical territory. Not only has he failed to condemn the war, but he has also publicly supported the Russian military invasion of Ukraine in every possible way. For example, during the liturgy on the Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy (March 13, 2022), he presented an icon of the Mother of God as a blessing to General Viktor Zolotov, the head of the National Guard of the Russian Federation, which directly participates in the war against Ukraine. Patriarch Kirill continues to publicly and faithfully support the aggressive, terrorist actions of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, who has already been recognized as a war criminal. Patriarch Kirill and most of the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church continue to spread among the faithful an ethno-phyletistic, pseudo-theological justification for Russia’s war against our people, thereby directly contributing to its continuation.
We openly and fully condemn the godless military aggression of Russia against our homeland, Ukraine. We unequivocally support our long-suffering compatriots and, in particular, the Ukrainian government and the Armed Forces of Ukraine in their struggle for liberation from the Russian aggressor.
In this context, thousands of clergy and parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church now seek full independence from the Moscow Patriarchate. However, despite our numerous and repeated appeals for this, the changes in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are being deliberately hindered and have not taken place. Bishops, priests, deacons, monastics, and parishioners face pressure from church figures who defend the interests of Patriarch Kirill, and church repression is taking place.
Our situation is further complicated by the fact that we still do not know which canonical path we should follow to unite all Orthodox Christians in Ukraine into a single Local Church. We are trying to find a compromise, possibly a transitional option acceptable to everyone, as not all clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are ready to join the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. This is primarily because many priests of the UOC have recently suffered from the actions of supporters of the OCU, and a significant portion of UOC parishioners are still under the influence of Kremlin propaganda, thus harboring prejudices against the OCU.
We turn to You for support and guidance as one who, by the grace of God, has the undeniable right and duty to judge church matters wherever they occur. We hope that, with the help of the Ecumenical Orthodoxy, we will be able to resolve the conflicts within the Ukrainian Orthodoxy.
We trust in Your archpastoral wisdom and support.
May 9, 2022
Letter dated April 13, 2023
Clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (signatures)
Your All-Holiness!
The clergy of the UOC address You with a great request regarding the transition of our parishes to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, under Your omophorion.
We, the priests, do not have the means to influence the actions of our bishops, who were not present at the Pan-Orthodox Council in 2016 or at the Council in 2018 during the formation of the OCU.
It would be possible to recognize the decisions of the 2018 Council, as the UOC is the successor of the Constantinople Patriarchate. However, most of our parishioners are reluctant to do so due to the aggressive methods of OCU supporters, which resemble more of a hostile takeover of property than a desire for brotherly communion.
For the past thirty years, the Orthodox community in Ukraine has been embroiled in divisions. Therefore, we believe that a transitional period is necessary to conduct educational work among parishioners and prepare them to accept that which they have been conditioned against for decades.
Today, our country is at war, and we have no moral right to remain part of the Moscow Patriarchate. However, the vast majority of parishioners and priests are not ready to join the OCU due to long-standing mutual grievances, exacerbated by the revanchist sentiments of OCU clergy towards the clergy and faithful of the UOC. In many churches that were transferred or seized by OCU supporters, there is a shortage of clergy, and during services, only a small number of parishioners attend. People prefer to pray in makeshift spaces rather than go to a service in a church taken by force due to denominational differences.
Our bishops remain silent and take no steps to resolve this situation, especially to restore Eucharistic communion with the Ecumenical See.
Therefore, we turn to the Holy Mother Church of Constantinople with a request to grant the parishes below either the status of a stavropegion or a temporary exarchate for a transitional period of several years, with a bishop appointed by You.
We ask that You accept our parishes under Your omophorion.
April 13, 2023
(Signatures)
Source: Religion in Ukraine