Religious dissensions in Ukraine
Religious procession of Ukrainian Orthodox priests
Tensions between the Ukrainian state and Orthodox priests loyal to Moscow Oleksii Danilov: They are “FSB employees in cassocks”. The Ukrainian law enforcement forces are not fighting against religion but against agents of the Federal Security Service (FSB, former KGB) in cassocks, the secretary of the Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksii Danilov, said on Thursday. Although the UOC announced the severance of ties with the Moscow Patriarchate in May, its priests are suspected of collaborating with Russia to the detriment of Ukraine. “No institution related to the Russian Federation, to its religious community, that collaborates with the Russian terrorist regime will exist on the territory of our country,” added Danilov, who recalled that some UOC priests arrested for collaborationism were exchanged for Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russia, according to EFE.
Since the launch of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Ukrainian security forces have investigated or arrested dozens of UOC priests for passing information to the enemy or blessing Russian military aggression from the pulpit. The last on this list is the bishop of Cherkassy (central Ukraine), who was investigated for spreading Russian propaganda and disinformation. According to the Ukrainian channel Kanal 24, Moscow has asked Kiev to provide medical assistance to Pavel Lebed, the abbot of the Lavra Pecherska Orthodox monastery in Kiev, which the UOC monks refuse to leave in violation of the law. Dubbed “Pasha Mercedes” by the Ukrainian media, a reference to his passion for luxury cars, Pavel Lebed was placed under house arrest on charges of giving sermons justifying the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to Kanal 24, Moscow would like this abbot in exchange for some Ukrainian prisoners of war. The local authorities in several Ukrainian regions have already started the transfer procedures of the properties of the UOC to those of the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). UOC priests are in turn being urged to join the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to show their sincerity in breaking ties with Moscow.
By Roberto Caseli
