The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) yesterday accused a senior priest of participating in anti-Ukrainian activities by supporting Russian policy in posts on social networks.
The SBU announcement followed a series of raids on the premises of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UPC), which has centuries-old ties to Moscow and has been under increasing pressure since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
The SBU announced that an archbishop in a diocese in western Ukraine shared posts that "humiliate the national honor and reputation of Ukrainians" and "contribute to the incitement of religious intolerance and hatred."
She accused the priest, whom she did not name, of using an anonymous Facebook profile to spread "the narratives of Russian propagandists," Reuters reported.
The Orthodox Church in Russia supported the invasion, and authorities in Kiev claim that some priests in Ukraine may be taking orders from Moscow.
The stakes have been raised in the competition between two Ukrainian Orthodox churches for the loyalty of the majority Orthodox population and for church property.
The UPC said last Sunday that it has always acted within the framework of Ukrainian law and that the state has no legal basis to put pressure on its followers.
After the search, the SBU released photos of the evidence it found, including rubles, Russian passports and leaflets with messages from the Russian patriarch.
Supporters and detractors of the church debate whether such things are harmless or increase suspicions that the church is a breeding ground for pro-Russian propaganda and intelligence gathering. The agency also published photos showing an armed member of the SBU standing in front of a church and those showing agents in camouflage uniform questioning priests.
Last Friday, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced measures aimed primarily at the UPC, one of the two main Orthodox churches in Ukraine after the split in 2019. Although the UPC declared independence from Moscow in May, it is not easy to implement given the complexities of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, according to the Associated Press . In addition, many Ukrainians do not believe that it is truly independent from Moscow.
It's green invited to the introduction of a law that would ban "religious organizations connected to centers of influence in the Russian Federation from operating in Ukraine."
He also wants to review the "canonical" connection between the UPC and the Moscow Patriarchate and the status of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery, which is now owned by the government but is largely used by the UPC. The government also imposed sanctions on the abbot of that church, another wealthy priest and several bishops in Russia or parts of Ukraine under Russian control.
"We will ensure, especially, spiritual independence. We will never allow anyone to build an empire within the Ukrainian soul."
The latest developments raise the stakes in the competition between the two churches for the loyalty of the majority Orthodox population and for church property.
Prominent UPC leaders say they have loyally supported Ukraine since the beginning of the war and that the government crackdown will only give another propaganda trump card to the Russians, who claim to be defending the Ukrainian Orthodox from persecution.
"The fact that they slander and try to 'ban' a part of their own people represents national suicide," archpriest Nikolay Danilevich, who often appeared as a spokesman for the UPC, told AP.
However, a bishop in the rival Orthodox Church of Ukraine (PCU) supports Zelensky's measures.
"Perhaps it is psychologically difficult that this is now happening in monasteries and temples," said Archbishop Oleksandar from the Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration in Kiev. He spoke to the AP by candlelight amid a power outage.
"But I think it's better to have searches than some people helping to guide enemy missiles."
In 2019, PCU was recognized by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. But the Moscow and most other Orthodox patriarchs refused to accept that decision.
The invasion of Ukraine underscored the alliance between President Vladimir Putin and Moscow Patriarch Kirill, who said Russia was defending Ukrainians from Western liberalism and its "gay parades."
From the beginning, the UOC condemned the invasion and such justifications, supporting Ukraine. In May, that church declared independence from Moscow, but not autocephaly, partly to maintain ties with Orthodox churches in other countries that did not agree to such a status, according to AP.
The agency states that the UPC did ignore Moscow by giving up mentioning Cyril as its leader in public worship and using its own holy oil instead of Moscow's in the anointing ceremony. Those acts are a "huge step" in the Orthodox world even though they seem mysterious, said Elizabeth Prodromu from the Eurasian Center of the Atlantic Council.
In pluralistic Ukraine, curtailing the religious freedom of one group would be of concern to others
Despite this, some believe that the UPC is still associated with Moscow and the "Russian world", the concept of political and spiritual unity of Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians.
"People want the church to clearly say who they are, who they are for," said Archimandrite Kirill Hovorun, a Ukrainian-born professor of ecclesiology, international relations and ecumenism at Stockholm University's Sankt Ignatios College.
Last month, the SBU searched the complex of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery citing an incident in which "songs celebrating the 'Russian world' were sung." The Ukrainian agency announced that a UPC priest from Lisichansk was sentenced to 12 years for revealing the positions of Ukrainian troops to the Russian invaders. The SBU also announced that yesterday it searched a church in Boryspil near Kiev, and on Thursday several churches and monasteries where it allegedly found pro-Russian publications.
It is wrong to treat the entire UPC as disloyal
Although the evidence indicates that some within the UPC are still pro-Moscow, that church has publicly opposed Patriarch Kirill's position, she told Prodrom.
Any actions to impose measures must be transparent and respect the religious freedom guaranteed by the constitution of Ukraine, according to Prodroma, the former vice president of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Even if there are pro-Russian elements in the church, "it raises further questions about what should be done and whether it is a wise move by the Ukrainian government," she added, noting that in a pluralistic Ukraine, reducing the religious freedom of one group would be a concern for others.
"It is not only an Orthodox issue. And other communities will be watching: Protestants, Greek Catholics, Jews, Muslims", as well as the PCU.
The UPC is under pressure from all sides - from the Russians who perceive that church as their own to the Ukrainians who see the PCU as the true church of Ukraine, said John Burgess, professor of theology from Pittsburgh.
He says that Zelenski is also in an awkward position.
"There's such anti-Russian sentiment that anything that can be tainted as pro-Russian, there's a lot of pressure on him to do something about it."
Elizabeth Prodromu, however, believes that treating the entire UPC as disloyal "would be a mistake based on empirical evidence and would also be reckless because it would undermine the possibility of complete reconciliation" between the two Orthodox churches.
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