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Senior bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) Metropolitan Pavel. Photo/RT
KIEV – A senior bishop in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) issued a strong rebuke to the President Volodymyr Zelensky for his role in the crackdown gripping the country’s largest religious denomination.
“I’m telling you, Mr. President, and your whole pack, that our tears will not fall on the ground, but on your heads,” Metropolitan Pavel said in his video address.
“You think today that after taking power, (based on) our wishes, you can treat us like that. Our Lord will not spare this act, neither to you nor your family,” the bishop warned as quoted from RT, Thursday (30/3/2023).
Pavel presides over the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the country’s largest Orthodox monastery, founded some 970 years ago. Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture refused to allow the UOC to renew the lease on the property, meaning that some 220 monks living there would be driven out into the street, as Pavel explained. The eviction deadline came this week.
The bishop lashed out at Ukraine’s president for refusing to meet the senior UOC bishop to discuss the situation. This was very hypocritical, he said, considering that, as a presidential candidate, Zelensky had sought and received the blessing to run from Metropolitan Onufry, the leader of the Church.
“You have failed to stop the minister of culture, who is possessed by demonic hatred and rage. This means he is acting with your permission; Woe to you, be afraid,” said the bishop.
Ukraine’s Minister of Culture, Aleksandr Tkachenko, said that UOC monks could stay at the Lavra if they agreed to defect to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (OCU), a rival schismatic organization backed by Kiev.
OCU received recognition as a legitimate church in 2019 from the Patriarchate of Constantinople, causing major divisions among the world’s Orthodox believers. Metropolitan Pavel also accused Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople of having given impetus to harsh measures with this step.
