The decision by the authorities in Kiev to declare the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) non-existent and eventually ban it in Ukraine is reminiscent of the early persecution of Christians in the first century, Russian Church Abroad (ROCOR) Metropolitan of Berlin and Germany Mark told Sputnik
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2023) The decision by the authorities in Kiev to declare the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) non-existent and eventually ban it in Ukraine is reminiscent of the early persecution of Christians in the first century, Russian Church Abroad (ROCOR) Metropolitan of Berlin and Germany Mark told Sputnik.
"From my point of view, it is a situation of persecution, which echoes the persecution of the Christians of the first century. Only, it is worse, because it is done by former Christians and by people who used to be parishioners of our church and are now going against the church," Mark said.
The metropolitan explained that the Ukrainian authorities have sought to declare the UOC a non-existent church and ban it across Ukraine.
"While the UOC is already banned in some regions, they are eager to prohibit it in the whole country," Mark added.
On December 28, 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a decree to suspend the Ukrainian citizenship of 13 UOC clerics, including that of Metropolitan Ionafan of Tulchyn and Bratslav on suspicion that he committed high treason. Zelenskyy also called for Ukraine's parliament to adopt within two months a bill to prohibit the UOC.
The UOC is the only canonical Orthodox church in Ukraine recognized by all other local Orthodox churches in the country.
Mark noted that the UOC, which was an autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), had to sever ties with the ROC under enormous pressure from the Kiev authorities.
"They no longer commemorate the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, which is a canonical nonsense, and have agreed to this in order to not to be persecuted. However, this does not seem to be of any importance for the government and to those who want to have the church persecuted," he said.
When asked about the reason for the persecution of the UOC in Ukraine, Mark highlighted the prevalent Russophobia in the country that has expressed itself by requiring banning of anything somehow connected to Russia.
"This is going so far as to prohibit the language and not to admit the presence of the Russian language anywhere in Ukraine," Mark said.
Kiev has increased its pressure on the UOC against the background of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. Some local authorities in Ukraine have decided to ban the activities of the UOC and a bill was recently submitted to parliament to outright ban the church in the country. In addition, sanctions have been imposed on some members of the UOC clergy.
