HEAD
OF
ZAPOROZHE PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION MEETS WITH HIERARCHS OF
UPTsKP AND UPTsMP
AND URGED THEM TO TAKE EXAMPLE FROM CHILDREN
Religiia
v Ukraine,
12 January 2018
The
widespread
public resonance in connection with the categorical refusal of
clergy of the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow patriarchate (UPTsMP) to
perform a
funeral for a child who died tragically, and who had been
baptized in the
UPTsKP, forced the chairman of the Zaporozhe provincial
government
administration, Konstantin Bryl, to hold a working meeting with
the ruling
bishop, Foty, of the Zaporozhe diocese of the UPTs of the Kiev
patriarchate and
the head of the Zaporozhe diocese of the UPTs of the Moscow
patriarchate,
Metropolitan Luka, and also to issue an appeal to residents of
the regions,
Religiia v Ukraine reports.
While
conversing
with the bishops, the head of the provincial state
administration called
"for balance and Christian wisdom," the web site of the
provincial
state administration notes.
"Zaporozhe
territory
is multi-confessional, where there exist more than a thousand
religious organizations and 43 religious denominations.
Orthodox, Catholics,
protestants, Muslims, and Jews have for several centuries now
peacefully lived
in the Zaporozhe lands," Konstantin Bryl noted.
He
said that
historically it has developed that the most widespread in the
province remains
Orthodoxy, which is professed by more than 50% of the religious
organizations
from the whole populace. Orthodox parishes are members of the
Zaporozhe and
Berdiansk diocese of the UPTsMP, the Zaporozhe diocese of the
UPTsKP, and also
Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, the True Orthodox
Church, Old
Believers, and so on.
Konstantin
Bryl
said that the active instrument for relations of the government
and the public
in the sphere of state-confessional relations is the Council of
Religious
Organizations under the head of the Zaporozhe provincial state
administration
and also the informal association, the Religious Council of
Christians Churches
(which includes representatives of dioceses of the UPTsKP,
UPTsMP, the
Kharkov-Zaporozhe diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in
Ukraine, the
Association of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, the Association
of Churches of
Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals) in Zaporozhe
province, the
Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, and the Association of
Charismatic Churches).
"In
recent
days a broad public resonance has been evoked by a situation in
the city of
Zaporozhe connected with the refusal by a priest of the
Ukrainian Orthodox
Church (of the Moscow patriarchate—ed.) to perform a funeral for
a child who
had been baptized in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev
patriarchate," K. Bryl is quoted by the website of the
provincial state
administration. "A flashmob 'Bring a doll to church,' mutual
resentments,
and calls for a physical confrontation have led to raised heat
on religious
grounds. Without interfering in the internal affairs of the
church and
theological questions, the task of the government is to prevent
emotions from
taking over and to preserve inter-confessional peace and
harmony."
During
the
meeting an understanding was achieved about the necessity of
preserving peace
and harmony in the region and a guarantee of tolerant relations
among
representatives of various confessions.
Yesterday
Konstantin
Bryl addressed residents of the region with a request not to
inflate
the conflict "occurring around the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of
the Moscow
patriarchate, which has acquired large scale recently."
Konstantin
Bryl
noted that according to the constitution, the church and
religious
organizations in Ukraine are separate from the state. He asked
residents of
Zaporozhe territory "not to inflate the conflict, thus playing
into the
hand of our enemy. After all we should not forget that a war is
going on in the
country. And every day our step must be carefully weighted."
The
head of the
provincial state administration pointed out from whom one should
take an
example: "As the best example and best teachers in this matter I
can name
the children of Zaporozhe. During the provincial New Year's and
Christmas
festival they did not pay attention to the religious confession
of one another
and they played the puppet-show of the Nativity together. And
they were happy
about it."
In
the near
future it is planned to conduct a session of the Council of
Religious
Organizations under the head of the Zaporozhe provincial state
administration
on the occasion of the 99th anniversary of the act of
reunification of the
Ukrainian People's Republic and the West-Ukrainian People's
Republic. In it K.
Bryl wants "to convey the same idea to all religious
organizations of the
region. Zaporozhians must not forget for a minute that Ukraine
is a modern
European state. And our people are able to resolve conflicts in
a civilized
manner."
In
addition, on
11 January the provincial state administration held a prayer
breakfast.
Participants in the event included personnel of the provincial
administration,
UPTsKP Bishop of Zaporozhe and Melitopol Foty, representatives
of the Zion
Christian Church, and other religious confessions. The breakfast
began with
prayer, after which participants read the Bible and clergy
shared the Word of
God, reflections, and comments.
On the same day the Zaporozhe diocese of the UPTsMP thanked law enforcement agencies for launching investigative actions regarding it. (tr. by PDS, posted 12 January 2018)
ZAPOROZHE DIOCESE OF UPTs THANKS LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR LAUNCHING INVESTIGATION OF ITS ACTIONS
Religiia v Ukraine, 12 January 2018
Metropolitan of Zaporozhe Luka, a hierarch of the UPTsMP, issued comments with regard to the opening of a criminal case by the Zaporozhe provincial prosecutor's office "regarding the situation of enflaming religious strife and hatred in our territory (that is, in Zaporozhe)," Religiia v Ukraine reports, citing the website of the UPTs.
"The Zaporozhe diocese of the UPTs expresses thanks to law enforcement for beginning investigatory actions regarding the situation of enflaming religious strife and hatred in our territory," the commentary of the official website of the UPTs says. "We hope that the investigation will be honest and just and that finally the truth will become clear and will show that the information disseminated by sloppy journalists is based only on suppositions and guesses. We all know the statement of Ecclesiastes, "Everything passes, and this will pass." We are sure that the noise will quiet down through the groundlessness of the accusations and the attacks will assume a different format, but all of this will only strengthen our faith and unite all of us for the sake of preserving the integrity of our motherland. We will pray that the investigation will proceed quickly and persons participating in the informational attacks, who by their action besmirch the honor of our Mother-Church, will be held accountable."
The metropolitan also urges: "We call the clergy and flock to help law enforcement agencies, and also to read daily the akathist of St. Nicholas, so that by his prayers the Lord will bring to their senses those who denigrate the Mother-Church, and I ask for raising gratitude to God that he, in these holy days, will give the opportunity for us to prove our faith and that the spiritual sores will be healed. Remember, God is with us—he is and he will be!"
From the original it appears that Metropolitan Luka's commentary, published on the UPTsMP website, does not contain any reference to the contents of the criminal case that has been opened. It may seem to readers that the issue is an investigation of some actions aimed against the Zaporozhe diocese of the UPTsMP. However it was representatives of the UPTsMP and the organization "Radomir" that law enforcement was previously investigating, relative to enflaming religious strife in society. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 January 2018)
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/.