The Orthodox Church in Ukraine has undergone throughout history Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, a separate Ukrainian Orthodox Church emerged, which in January 2019 received equal status with the Russian Orthodox Church, led by Moscow.
But there are still many churches in Ukraine that belong to the Moscow Patriarchate, although officially this part of the Orthodox Church also calls itself Ukrainian.
But in May of this year, this part of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine cut off the leadership in Moscow and condemned Russia’s war against Ukraine.
However, the Ukrainian authorities suspected the Church of continuing to collaborate with the Russian Orthodox Church. Church property has been searched several times.
Unusual statement
On Tuesday evening, the head of the National Security Council of Ukraine made a stern appeal to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Surprise: Oleksiy Danilov, head of Ukraine’s Security Council, is asking the country’s Orthodox Church to demonize President Putin and Patriarch Kirill.
Photo: Efrem Lukatsky/AP
– If you have no connection with Russia, you can say a solemn farewell and say that Russian President Vladimir Putin is the devil, as Oleksey Danilov demanded.
Statement made on Ukrainian TV It is reproduced by the DPA news agency.
Danilov added that the supreme leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, is also a demon.
The leader of the Russian Church made headlines this fall when he said that Putin had been appointed by God to rule Russia.
property dispute
The move of the head of the Security Council of Ukraine is linked to a property dispute. The question is whether the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will still be allowed to live in the famous cave monastery in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
Religion and Politics: Service in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Kyiv.
Photo: Zhenya Savelov / AFP
The authorities have terminated the lease of the church in the historic monastery since the new year.
Monastery leader Pavel Lebed criticized President Volodymyr Zelensky for this and demanded that the church be allowed to remain there.
Afraid of spies
According to the site CNE News The Ukrainian authorities want to change the name of the Orthodox Church in the country.
They will suspect Russian spies to be active in the church.
Moreover, they believe that relations with the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow are still very close.
In the Constitution of the Ukrainian Church, all references to the Moscow Patriarchate should be omitted.
But spiritually, Patriarch Kirill in Moscow will still have influence over the Church in Ukraine, reports CNE.news.
Russia’s war against Ukraine is now in its eleventh month.
Last fall, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that the war in Ukraine is a “holy struggle with the devil.” Medvedev is now the deputy head of the Russian Security Council.
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