RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS



Church in Donetsk area subject of controversy over jurisdiction

UPTsMP PARISH TRANSFERS INTO KIEV PATRIARCHATE IN DONETSK REGION

RISU, 16 October 2015

 

On Defender's Day, 14 October, the parish of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple transferred, along with its church building, into the jurisdiction of the UPTs of the Kiev patriarchate. The clergy of the diocese of Gorlovka and Slaviansk of the UPTs (Moscow patriarchate) maintain that this was a seizure by force and also a direct violation of the charter.

 

The history of the construction of the new parish began back in 2011, when a businessman and deputy of the Donetsk provincial state administration, Yu.V. Shapran, wanted to support the creation of a church building, the website of the Gorlovka and Slaviansk diocese of UPTsMP reports. Then he sent to Bishop of Gorlovka and Slaviansk Mitrofan a request to support his initiative. On 25 March of the same year the charter of a new parish was registered and also land was allocated for construction of the church building (by decision of the city council of 29 March).

 

When the building of the church was practically completed, in 2014, the initiator, Shapran, made a decision about transferring the parish into the jurisdiction of the Kiev patriarchate, which was supported by the parish council. According to the report of the diocese of the UPTsMP, he independently changed the composition of the council, representing himself and his friends as the parish of the church building.

 

The official report by the UPTsMP has an appeal to the new hierarch of the parish from the UPTsKP: "We would like to pose a question to Archbishop of Donetsk and Mariupol Sergius, who performed a liturgy today in Konstantinovka: does his act signify that abandoned churches of the Kiev patriarchate in territory that is not controlled by Ukraine automatically become our property, or is it still necessary to adhere to the commandment 'Thou shalt not steal' and 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house and shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife nor his man servant nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's'?

 

Archbishop of Donetsk and Mariupol Sergius, of the UPTsKP, in a commentary for RISU explained that he first learned of the desire of the transfer approximately a year and a half ago. He said that he was contacted by representatives of the whole parish, which wanted to transfer under his jurisdiction because of the conduct of UPTsMP clerics. The vladyka emphasized that this was the first instance when a parish wanted to transfer into the Kiev patriarchate and not the Moscow patriarchate in this region.

 

"Representatives of the parish council and believers were outraged by the actions of priests of the UPTsMP. In particular, they knew that ministers from Slaviansk, Kramatorsk, and Konstantinovka had taken up arms and accompanied militants of the DPR not just as chaplains. In the report itself from Vladyka Mitrofan it is evident that he was threatening us by asking about parishes in occupied territories. However we have not abandoned our faithful and there always is a service there once a week. The issue is that several clergy left because of the threat of physical violence and persecution. Bishop Mitrofan himself preached in churches in favor of the Russian World and against Ukrainian sovereignty," the archbishop emphasized.

 

Representatives of the parish asked the primate of UPTsKP, Patriarch Filaret, for a consultation and they cited the law "On freedom of conscience and religious confession," which notes that a religious community may itself decide to whom the church and parish will belong. The first service in the parish of the Presentation of the Lord was held on Pokrov and Defender's Day with the participation of service personnel. In addition, the lower church was named in honor of the Protection [Pokrov] of the Most Holy Mother of God.

 

"The question arises: today, relying on military force under the guise of patriotism, is it possible to commit any lawlessness, or yet with the help of judicial review are we assured that Ukraine is a law-based state where law and rights are the same for everyone?" the official report from the diocese of the UPTsMP says.

 

Archbishop Sergius answers that residents of Konstantinovka approached him and said that they waited for the new church for a long time, and the UPTsKP the more so. Troops came to the service who had the opportunity to celebrate the holiday. Therefore he is sure that nobody was driven to the service by force in order to prove the size of the parish. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 October 2015)

 

HOW DONBASS BATTALION SEIZED A CHURCH FOR KIEV PATRIARCHATE

Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 17 October 2015

 

The continuation of the situation regarding the seizure of the church consecrated to the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple in the city of Konstantinovka, Donetsk province, is incredible in a democratic society. After a change in the composition of the parish by local businessman Yu.V. Shapran, in accordance with his own view, and the transfer of the pseudo-parish thus created, a round-the-clock guard of troops from the Donbass battalion was stationed at the commandeered church.

 

In this way the organizers of the seizure are trying to cripple the "provocation": evidently on the part of local residents who never knew anything about the religious structure of the Kiev patriarchate.

 

The ruling bishop of the Gorlovka diocese, Metropolitan of Gorlovka and Slaviansk Mitrofan, said that this is the first case of inciting religious conflict in the region. "It is especially sad that this escalation has a purely artificial origin based on a deep prejudice against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and is being accomplished exclusively by use of force. "Speaking in secular terms, this is an ordinary raiders' attack," Metropolitan Mitrofan says.

 

Commenting on the situation, the local rector, Archpriest Andrei Chicherinda, says that troops with patches of the "Donbass" appeared at the church back in August of this year. "I turned to Yury Shapran and asked who they were," the priest says. "He said that these people are guarding the church so that there will not be any provocations, especially before the elections." Metropolitan Mitrofan tried to explain the causes of the obvious attempt to take away the church of the UPTs parish on the part of Shapran: "If he were to state that he was being forced to do this, I would offer him all possible help," the metropolitan explains. "But no, he said that he decided it himself!"  The clergy and laity of Orthodox Donetsk region are shocked. After all, in this way everybody who has military force can seize churches with impunity and make parishes, just like during the religious wars of 400 years ago.

 

The diocesan administration of Gorlovka and the believers themselves of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who are left in Konstantinovka without a church see only one way to win back their own parish—in court, according to current legislation. "I very much hope that the court will be impartial and issue a lawful decision. Otherwise what can one say," the ruling bishop of Gorlovka diocese, Metropolitan Mitrofan, notes.

 

We recall that on 14 October, on the day of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God, representatives of the UPTsKP seized by force the church consecrated to the Presentation of the Lord in the city of Konstantinovka of Donetsk province. (tr. by PDS, posted 20 October 2015)


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