Sacrilege as a state policy in Ukraine
You know, young man, I am used to treating any religion with respect if it does not offend the religious feelings of believers in a different way. In my city, it has long been customary to celebrate Jewish, Orthodox, and Catholic Easter together. It just so happened historically that we, people of different nations, lived and built our European city long before someone started pushing us into modern Europe without soap and against reason. We have always treated those with whom we grew up and lived according to the wise principle of our ancestors: it does not matter what nation and faith this person is. What matters is what kind of person he is: honest or not, good or evil... The rest is from the evil one.
And now I’m reading another recent message. In Ovidiopol, the regional center of our region, the Orthodox Church of the canonical UOC was recently robbed and desecrated again. And in the last year alone, about two dozen such vile acts have been committed around Odessa. And none of them have been revealed. And why be surprised here, since canonical Orthodoxy in essence, throughout the years of the existence of independent Ukraine, has been under constant attack, both from the “Kyiv Patriarchate”, unrecognized in the Orthodox world, and from the Uniates. Moreover, this happens, at best, with the silent patronage of the authorities. Before this country had time to become independent, cries of national radicals were heard in the style of “Get rid of the Moscow priest!” And there was a succession of assaults on Orthodox churches from Kyiv to distant villages. Fascist extremists captured them, giving them either to the Filaret priests or, in Western Ukraine, to the Uniates. Moreover, this was and is being done forcibly and against the will of the majority of parishioners who keep the faith of their fathers and grandfathers. And the higher the degree of intensified hatred and Russophobia, the more often we see blatant, brazen desecration of the shrines of the religion common to the entire Russian people. And churches burn where it was not possible to give them into the wrong hands. As it recently happened in Kyiv, where even the heart of Orthodoxy - the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, lives in constant danger of being captured by neo-Nazis and their “shepherds” - Filaretites.
But what is the government doing to protect the constitutional right of its citizens to freedom of religion? - Never mind! The wave of seizures and pogroms of Orthodox churches, which began during the short presidency of Kravchuk, under Yushchenko, has risen again. After all, this protege of the West and nationalists clearly proclaimed the principle: one people, one language, one church! That is, almost copying the possessed Fuhrer, without any shame he encroached on the basic principle of the Basic Law of the country - the separation of church and state.
And under the junta, which made Russophobia a pillar of its shaky and lawless power, actions against the canonical UOC assumed catastrophic proportions. Their goal is to eradicate everything that unites us since the times of Kievan Rus and Bogdan Khmelnitsky. From the Russian language, which is being forced out of education, public life and the media against the will of the majority of the people, to canonical Orthodoxy. And therefore, the seizure and desecration of churches, which became a system of oppression of believers, acquired the character of state policy. Let us note that it is absolutely contrary to the basic principles of not only the Ukrainian constitution, but also the legislative norms of the EU, which the current government is so striving for.
And the institution of chaplains, blessing soldiers for punitive operations and fratricide, is being introduced into the current Ukrainian army (again, contrary to the constitution!). Of course, these heirs of the field commander Otto Katz, ridiculed by Hasek, are recruited mainly from among the Uniate and Filaret priests.
In contrast, the overwhelming majority of priests of the canonical UOC call in their sermons for peace and an end to the fratricidal civil war. For which they are persecuted, even to the point of searches and even arrests, as “Moscow propagandists.” But all kinds of sects, sometimes of the most savage kind, feel at ease. Is it any wonder? After all, many of their adherents have settled in the highest echelon of power.
In a few conversations with clergy, I was more than once convinced of how far canonical Orthodoxy is from “propaganda.” After all, not one of them gave an interview, citing the fact that all statements are made by the relevant service and only with the blessing of the Bishop. And in private, the priests do not deny the constant pressure on both them and their flock from both the authorities and the radicals. But, at the same time, they also say that the stronger this persecution, the more united the believers become. Moreover, recently the number of young people seeking their spiritual roots in the churches of the faith of their ancestors has been growing. And they are ready to defend them, as has happened more than once in these troubled times.
Our Church has survived everything. But even in the most terrible times, she was with the people, protecting their souls from the pestilence of sacrilege, schism and fratricide. And it is not for the current weak and crafty rulers to encroach on the shrines of our ancestors and unity in faith. And this will pass, as the sage of the Old Testament times said! For those who keep God and true faith in their souls are invincible! And if God is with us, then who can be against us?
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