UPTsMP BELIEVERS FROM ZAPOROZHE UNPLEASANTLY SURPRISED BY CONDUCT OF THEIR PRIMATE IN THE VERKHOVNA RADA
Archpriest Igor Savva and parishioners of the church of the Holy Martyrs Vera, Nadezhda, Liubov, and their Mother, Sophia, in Zaporozhe sent an open letter to Metropolitan of Kiev and all-Ukraine Onufrey in which they expressed their confusion over the recent action of three UPTs bishops in the hall of the Supreme Soviet. This was reported by Kievskaia Rus.
"Your Beatitude, your actions in the Supreme Soviet suggest that Ukraine is the guilty party in the continuation of the war. . . . By your actions on 8 May you have placed all of us in jeopardy," write the authors of the letter, which the rector and 36 parishioners signed.
Below we present the complete text of the letter:
Your Beatitude!
We, faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP), are forced to address you, since the demonstration of disrespect toward 21 heroes of Ukraine, ten of whom have already given their life for their country, caused us confusion.
In speaking of "confusion," we do not have in mind a disturbance or a demand for an answer but rather lack of understanding. We are church people and we treat our pastors with respect. We understand what a difficult position bishops find themselves in, and the more so the primate of the church, in the current situation of conflict, when both of the opposing sides call themselves Orthodox. But we understand also the degree of responsibility of the shepherd before the flocks since people rely on their primate for leadership in what is most important: in determining where is the good and where evil, where is salvation and where destruction.
Your Beatitude, your actions in the Supreme Soviet suggest that Ukraine is the guilty party in the continuation of the war. But that is not true. We all recall that the war began with the seizure by Russian troops of administration buildings in Simferopol and the subsequent annexation of all of Crimea (this is acknowledged even by the Russian leadership), and it continued with the seizure by Russian special forces of administrative buildings in the Donbass and the uninterrupted supply of terrorists with military equipment and manpower. None of us supports the war; we are all for its immediate end. But in our circumstances, ceasing to defend ourselves from aggression on the part of Russia is tantamount to spreading the flame of war to the whole country, which is especially obvious for us who are residents of frontline provinces.
Your Beatitude, we are Orthodox Christians and we do not want that our faith be determined by someone's political or, yet worse, geopolitical interests and someone's civilizational predilections. The Lord sent his disciples into all countries, not making distinctions among various civilizations. On the contrary, we want to be guided by only the law of God with its clear distinction of concepts. From the point of view of that law, incitement of one's own population to aggression and the subsequent attack on another country is evil, and defense of one's own fatherland is good.
Your Beatitude, by your actions of 8 May you have placed all of us in jeopardy. Now yet more of our fellow countrymen have been strengthened in the assurance that "the Moscow patriarchate is a fifth column in Ukraine." But we are not a "fifth column." We are Christians and citizens of Ukraine, and thus we pray for our heroes and bow our head before them.
With sincere love for Your Beatitude.
Archpriest Igor Savva,
Rector of the church of Holy Martyrs Vera, Nedezhda, Liubov, and their Mother, Sophia,
city of Zaporozhe
(tr. by PDS, posted 20 May 2015)
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