DOCUMENT: APPEAL OF THE HOLY SYNOD OF UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH TO UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT PETRO ALEKSEEVICH POROSHENKO IN CONNECTION WITH CRISIS SITUATION IN UKRAINIAN SOCIETY
Greatly esteemed Petr Alekseevich
Today our country is experiencing a time of difficult trials. Military actions are continuing in the east of Ukraine and tens of thousands of people have become displaced persons and remain without means of subsistence. At the present time both the church and the state and civil society should devote a maximum of efforts for overcoming this difficult crisis.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the church of the people of Ukraine. Dioceses of our church operate both in the east and west and in the south and north of Ukraine. People of various nationalities and various political convictions are parishioners of our church, but we are all one in Christ. We all love our motherland. We raise prayers for the peace and tranquility of Ukraine. We believe that the Lord hears our prayers and will grant us the long awaited peace.
Today the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is in an extremely difficult situation. Five dioceses of our church operate on the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk provinces whose members include more than 1,100 churches and 17 monasteries. Here around 1,100 priests and more than 350 monks perform their ministry. As the ruling bishops of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Gorlovka, Severodonetsk, and Rovenkov dioceses say in their reports, as of today 9 churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have been destroyed as the result of military actions. Another 77 churches have been damaged. On 18 December 2014, in the village of Peski of Yasinovatsk district of Donetsk province, unidentified persons who were dressed in military uniforms and called themselves troops of the armed forces of Ukraine robbed the suburban residence of the Donetsk diocese. We ask you, deeply esteemed Petr Alekseevich, to ensure the necessary and impartial investigation of these incidents.
Unfortunately, we must conclude that in recent months there have occurred frequent attempts to disrupt interconfessional peace in Ukraine. In particular, in the Kiev, Lvov, Ternopol, Volyn, and Rovno provinces there have occurred attempts to seize parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in favor of the so-called Kiev patriarchate. At the present time, 14 of our churches have been seized. In another six parishes, an extremely tense situation has been maintained. Unfortunately, violations of existing legislation of Ukraine with respect to parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as a rule, occur with the silent consent of local authorities, and sometimes even on their initiative.
Historic experience attests that conflicts on a religious basis, as a rule, are the most difficult and bloody. They profoundly affect the fates of countries and nations. Overcoming the consequences of religious conflicts may take decades. Therefore today we must devote a maximum of efforts for preserving interconfessional and inter-religious peace in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church devotes special attention to providing aid to the wounded, displaced persons, and families of the fallen and civilian population who are located in the zone of military actions in the east of Ukraine.
During 2014, dioceses of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the zone of the Anti-Terrorist Operation were sent 850 tons of humanitarian aid totaling 12,500,000 hryvnia. Another approximately 7,000 tons of humanitarian aid was distributed to civilians and displaced persons. The collection of money and humanitarian aid is continuing in all dioceses of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Centers of humanitarian aid have been created in the Kiev, Odessa, Berdiansk, Kharkov, and Dnepropetrovsk dioceses.
The clergy of our church is engaged in organizing and aiding the departure of people from the zone of armed actions. By the efforts of the Department for Charity and Social Service of the Kiev diocese alone, more than 500 persons have been evacuated from Donetsk and Luhansk provinces. More than 1,270 displaced persons have been settled in Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Zhitomir, Poltava, Nikolaevsk, and Chernovitsy provinces with the cooperation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Centers of Social Adaptation have been created for displaced persons in Kiev and Nikolaevsk provinces as well as in Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk, and Kharkov. In Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa, and Zaporozhe, clergy and laity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have participated actively in repair, refurbishing, and equipping clinics and hospitals where wounded Ukrainian troops are receiving treatment.
On 16 June 2014, the spiritual support telephone "Hope" began work. As of today, 6 priests have participated in this project, which receives up to 50 to 60 calls daily from all of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church supports the people of Ukraine in the time of difficult trials. We consistently speak out for the sovereign independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We want to assure you, deeply esteemed Petr Alekseevich, that in the future we will do everything possible for overcoming the difficult crisis in which our motherland finds itself.
Today in all churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, during every divine liturgy, prayers are raised for peace in Ukraine. We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ, by the intercession of his Most Holy Mother and all the saints resplendent in our land, will give us his almighty help and preserve us from all evil.
In the name of members of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
+Onufrey, Metropolitan of Kiev and all-Ukraine,
primate of
the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (tr. by PDS, posted 25 December
2014)
Ukrainian original posted on site of Holy
Synod of UPTsMP, 22 December 2014
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