UPTsMP PARISH TRANSFERS INTO KIEV PATRIARCHATE IN
DONETSK REGION
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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