SHCHIPKOV: UPTs HEAD DID A COURAGEOUS ACT IN SUPREME SOVIET
The action of Metropolitan of Kiev and all-Ukraine Onufrey, who refused to stand in the Verkhovna Rada during the reading by President Petro Poroshenko of a list of heroes of Ukraine, participants in military actions in the east of the country, is the courageous step of a Christian and may entail an intensification of repression against UPTs on the part of authorities. Such is the opinion expressed to RIA Novosti by a member of the bureau of the presidium of the World Russian People's Sobor, political scientist and sociologist of religion Alexander Shchipkov.
During a solemn session of the Supreme Soviet on 8 May, Petro Poroshenko announced the family names of service personnel of the Ukrainian army who were awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine, some of them posthumously, for participation in military operations in the southeast. While those present in the session hall at that time stood, the delegation of the UPTs of the Moscow patriarchate, led by Metropolitan Onufrey, remained seated.
This incident evoked a wave of criticism in Ukrainian news media. A group of deputies from the fraction Block of Petro Poroshenko on Tuesday declared that it had prepared an appeal to the prime minister of Ukraine and the Ministry of Justice requesting an evaluation of the actions of the representatives of UPTs, which, in the deputies' opinion, was a manifestation of disrespect toward Ukrainian soldiers. Metropolitan Onufrey himself issued a special explanation for the news media in which he noted that "this was our sign of protest against war as a phenomenon." He said that the church does not want for war to continue on Ukrainian land but wants peace "and for God's blessing to be upon our land."
"Ukrainian commentators do not understand that the act of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufrey has nothing to do with politics and that it relates to the church's understanding of events occurring in Ukraine. By this action he wanted to show the world that Christ's church does not accept fratricidal war as such," Alexander Shchipkov told RIA Novosti.
He noted that to accuse the head of the UPTs of adherence to one or another political side is incorrect, because Metropolitan Onufrey visited Orthodox Christians both on the territory of the DPR and LPR and on all the rest of the territory of Ukraine, where he fed his flock and fulfilled his pastoral duties with respect to all believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, including service personnel of the opposing forces. "Therefore, all accusations with respect to Metropolitan Onufrey are absurd and ridiculous. The action by the vladyka and bishops accompanying him evoked in me respect; this was an action of confessors of the faith," Shchipkov said.
Speaking about what kind of consequences the step of the head of UPTs might have, the news agency's interlocutor noted that "knowing the situation in Ukraine, it is possible to suggest that he and the church that he heads may expect repressions of diverse character—physical, economic, political, and so forth."
"However, repressions with respect to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are already going on, and one may suggest that they will only intensify. Churches have already been seized, clergy have been beaten, and several persons among the clergy even have died during armed actions. The Ukrainian news media already are defaming the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the only canonical Orthodox structure on the territory of this country," the expert noted.
Shchipkov said the negative commentaries against Metropolitan Onufrey in the Kievan mass media after the above mentioned session of the Supreme Soviet testify that in Ukraine "they simply do not understand the profound religious motivation of this action of the bishop, who bears responsibility for the flock and church that were handed over to him." "Proceeding from his pastoral duty and understanding of Christianity, he was not able to act in any other way. It is sad that other clergy and ministers of the church, who attended that event, acted differently and in a political manner," the news agency's interlocutor concluded. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 May 2015)
Editorial disclaimer: RRN does
not intend to certify the accuracy of information
presented in articles. RRN simply intends to certify the
accuracy of the English translation of the contents of the
articles as they appeared in news media of countries of
the former USSR.
If material is quoted, please give credit to the
publication from which it came. It is not necessary to credit
this Web page. If material is transmitted electronically, please
include reference to the URL,
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.