KRUK REPORT: The geopolitics of faith

KRUK REPORT: The geopolitics of faith
The Ukrainian Orthodox church is breaking away from the Moscow Patriarchy / Wikimedia
By Kateryna Kruk in Kyiv April 24, 2018

When I was passing by a church of a Moscow Patriarchy on the second day of Easter in my native town in Western Ukraine, I’ve overheard a priest saying: “And now let’s pray for the end of this fratricidal war”. This perfectly sums up the position of the Moscow patriarchy towards the Russo-Ukrainian war and underlines the need to have truly independent and truly Ukrainian church.

Few weeks ago Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko broke the news that Ukraine might finally get its own independent church. Right after the Easter holidays he invited heads of the parliamentary factions and groups to the presidential administration where he asked for support of the appeal to the Archbishop Bartholomew regarding granting Ukraine a Tomos recognising independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Rada has supported his appeal and so a week later one of the deputy heads of the presidential administration presented the formal letters from the head of state, the parliament and two churches (Kyiv Patriarchy and Ukrainian Autocephalous Church) to grant Ukraine a Tomos establishing a Ukrainian independent church. According to press service of the Kyiv Patriarchy, a Sacred Synod has accepted the letters and by doing so has officially started a process of granting a Tomos.

It is really hard to overestimate the importance of this event. First of all, it would finalize more than 20-years old process of Ukraine applying for the Tomos. It is not just about having an independent church, it is about having a church independent from Moscow. A church that doesn’t refuse to bury Ukrainian soldiers killed in Donbas, doesn’t agitate for the candidates like Yanukovych, doesn’t divide Ukrainians into “good” and “bad” Christians.

There is a number of reasons why this issue is much more than just a religious question and why the recognition of the independence of the Ukrainian church will become one of our most important events ever.

First of all, events of last year revealed a true nature of the rival patriarchies and their attitude to Ukraine. Kyiv patriarchy really showed itself as a truly Ukrainian and active church that is not distancing itself from the current events. Starting from the first days of Euromaidan, priests of the Kyiv patriarchy were together with the people. It is a well-known fact that the Mykolaivsky monastery hid protesters from the state’s special Berkut forces and later allowed setting up a hospital inside the church. One of my most vivid memories of Maidan was when in the mid-February, right before the shootings on Maidan, the Moscow patriarchy in Kyiv was praying for the health and well-being of the Berkut.

The difference between the two patriarchies became even more evident when the war in Eastern Ukraine started. Those were mostly priests of the Kyiv patriarchy and Greek-Catholic Church who joined the army and as military chaplains lifted the spirit of the soldiers at the frontline. True, there were many priests of the Moscow patriarchy as well, but the official church doesn’t recognize the fact of the Russian aggression in Ukraine and denies a civil war is taking place in the East.

This position of one major religious institutions in Ukraine only catalysed the ongoing process of the strengthening of the Kyiv patriarchy. In the midst of war many local communities around Ukraine made a choice to change patriarchy and join the Kyiv one. There are many priests of the Moscow patriarchy who publicly disagree with the position of the Moscow patriarchy. Currently, Kyiv patriarchy has the largest number of believers and is a second biggest church when it comes to the number of priests and parishes. It has truly proved its independent status and its ability to organize the church life.

The Church question is important to Ukraine also from another perspective. According to opinion polls of the last years, the church is the most trusted and respected Ukrainian institution. Ever since the beginning of war, level of trust towards the church has never dropped below 50%. It would be an unforgivable oversight to ignore that Moscow can exercise its influence through it. Moreover, in the ideological terms independence of Ukrainian church would signify a very important victory against Russian influence in Ukraine. So far, the Moscow patriarchy is Russia’s most powerful tool in Ukraine. Changing the status quo will be the last missing piece in creating a truly independent Ukraine and challenging Russia’s imperial ambitions.

There are grounds to believe that Tomos will finally be granted. First of all, the road to recognition of the independent Ukrainian church is more than 20 years long. So it is not a very new or spontaneous process. Secondly, Ukrainian officials have never before supported the request of Ukrainian churches and asked Archbishop for the Tomos. Thirdly, president Poroshenko talks about it very confidently and openly. It is hard to believe he would risk his public support (very low, as always) by promising something so important to Ukrainians if it weren’t realistic. Quite probable, Poroshenko already has some preliminary consent or agreement with the Archbishop. He also understands that Tomos will be a great victory for him a year before the presidential elections.

Last but not least, Ukraine might not be the only one to receive an independent church soon. Few weeks ago Archbishop Bartholomew met not only Ukraine’s president, but also presidents of Macedonia and Bosnia. From the press statement of the Macedonian president we can find that he and Archbishop discussed the status of the Macedonian Orthodox Church Orchida Archiepiscopacy. This could mean that Archbishop Bartholomew is ready to make more than one historical decisions confirming his status of the “first among the equals”. If so, the religious status quo of the Eastern Europe will be reshaped for the first time in last 400 years.

Opinion

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