Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2023 18:44:42 GMT
The Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church met yesterday in Kyiv. i post below the statement the members of the Holy Synod of the UOC wrote:
Address of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
to the episcopate, clergy, monasticism and all faithful children
of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
from September 25, 2023
Your Eminences and Eminences!
Honorable fathers! Dear brothers and sisters!
In times of stormy trials for the Ukrainian people, our Church, like a loving mother, envelops all her children with her prayers and mercy. And just as a mother loves all her children, regardless of the fact that some of them listen to her instructions, and some defiantly neglect maternal care, so the Ukrainian Orthodox Church never divides its flock depending on political or social preferences, and the Ukrainian society — on those who are faithful to it, and those who have forgotten the place of their baptism, the place of baptism of their parents and ancestors, and who now consider it possible to blaspheme the Church of God and despise the pastors, by whose priestly hands these people themselves were once immersed in the font of Baptism to be born into Eternal Life.
The Church prays for the entire Ukrainian state, calls to respect its laws, daily performs social and volunteer service for all those who need it, and not only for those who are loyal to it. After all, this is what the Lord Himself teaches, saying: "For when you love those who love you, what is your reward?" (Mt. 5, 46).
When we say "Church", of course, by this word we mean the whole people of God - not only the clergy and monasticism, but also all believers who, together with their spiritual shepherds, share the burden of the trials of the modern period in the being of Ukrainian Orthodoxy. They are trying to poison this people of God with anti-church propaganda, intimidation, and temptations without the slightest regret. However, joint prayers and services, which unite thousands of believers of our Church around the Orthodox shrines, testify that coercion and slander cannot divert the people of God from the path determined by their religious beliefs. This becomes especially eloquently clear when we see that the churches that were captured, that is, taken from the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, stand empty even on major holidays. In particular, this situation developed in the majestic cathedrals of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and other shrines. After the so-called change of religious subordination, the holy places, where intensified prayers for the Ukrainian state, its government, the army and the people were heard every day, were locked in large barn locks.
"If God does not protect the city, then the watchmen guard it in vain" (Ps. 126, 1), we read in the divinely inspired book of Psalms. These words of the Bible at the time of Ukraine's suffering from the full-scale Russian aggression expose the criminal actions of the initiators of the church discord, as a result of which, for the first time since the fall of the atheistic regime, the performance of the Divine Liturgy was stopped in the churches that had been prayed for centuries, as well as the prayers for the defenders of Ukraine, for the wounded and captured soldiers. , for the rest and all the suffering, whose tears only God can wipe away. On the other hand, the insult perpetrated on the temples by the people who, during the violent seizure, mercilessly break the doors and windows, desecrate the holy altars and beat the Christians, not only does not invite God's blessing, but also defies God. It is clear to everyone that the consequences of this challenge by the so-called activists will also be redeemed by those who tacitly condones their impunity, who closes their eyes to the open sacrilege imposed on Ukrainian society as a norm. One should call a spade a spade: the initiators and perpetrators of church raiding are outright spiritual enemies of the Ukrainian state, whose actions only deepen the destructive consequences of Russian aggression. After all, "God is not despised" (Gal. 6, 7).
The situation around the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, completely created by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, was no less a shame that shocked Christians from different parts of the globe. Believers are not allowed on the territory of the Lower Lavra to pray near the imperishable and miraculous relics of the cave reverend fathers. Currently, not only Kyivites, but also pilgrims from other cities and countries, who in such a difficult time try to visit the Lavra for prayer, cannot get to the shrine.
A situation has arisen in which only Orthodox Christians find themselves limited in their right to perform prayer worship at world-revered shrines, at a time when pilgrimages of representatives of other denominations and religions are provided with an administrative resource. It should also be noted that religious people will never agree to the demeaning treatment of relics as "museum exhibits", which is how these shrines have been repeatedly called by state officials. The actions of the representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine on the territory of the Nizhny Lavra are striking with legal and moral lawlessness against the monks of the Lavra, students and teachers of Kyiv theological schools, as well as believers and pilgrims. In such a situation, we put all our hope in God,
Special prayer support is needed today by bishops who are subjected to criminal persecution and are forcibly restricted in communication with their flock. As the lawyers point out, the accusations brought against them have no convincing confirmation in the materials of the court cases, and the very process of obtaining evidence and the trial is accompanied by a brazen violation of Ukrainian legislation. The Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is grateful to everyone who, to the best of their ability, helps the bishops who are being persecuted. Special gratitude to the Prelates and representatives of the episcopate of the Local Orthodox Churches and religious figures from different countries of the world who have shown their support.
Dear brothers and sisters! The Lord has blessed us to live in a time that especially requires living faith, full of love. Against the background of large-scale violations of state legislation and international norms regarding the rights and freedoms of people — believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church — the question often arises: how should Orthodox Christians respond to these challenges? Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself gave us the answer: "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who wrong you and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). Entrusting his church life to God, a Christian should "not by word or tongue, but by deed and truth" (1 Jn. 3, 18) show love and kindness to others in conditions of a complete lack of these qualities. In difficult historical periods of church history, Christian love and kindness in response to all forms of evil changed the world and brought the Church to new levels of its prosperity. Therefore, even now, in the concern for the future of the Church, each of us should focus not on a noisy confrontation with people who are hostile to us, but on an effective testimony about Christ and His Church, reflecting in our words and deeds God Himself, who is Love.
May the Lord, with His grace, bless the Ukrainian state and its people with a life in peace, protecting it from every enemy and adversary, because to Him alone belongs the blessing and honor, and glory and the state forever and ever (Revelation 5, 13).
Address of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
to the episcopate, clergy, monasticism and all faithful children
of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
from September 25, 2023
Your Eminences and Eminences!
Honorable fathers! Dear brothers and sisters!
In times of stormy trials for the Ukrainian people, our Church, like a loving mother, envelops all her children with her prayers and mercy. And just as a mother loves all her children, regardless of the fact that some of them listen to her instructions, and some defiantly neglect maternal care, so the Ukrainian Orthodox Church never divides its flock depending on political or social preferences, and the Ukrainian society — on those who are faithful to it, and those who have forgotten the place of their baptism, the place of baptism of their parents and ancestors, and who now consider it possible to blaspheme the Church of God and despise the pastors, by whose priestly hands these people themselves were once immersed in the font of Baptism to be born into Eternal Life.
The Church prays for the entire Ukrainian state, calls to respect its laws, daily performs social and volunteer service for all those who need it, and not only for those who are loyal to it. After all, this is what the Lord Himself teaches, saying: "For when you love those who love you, what is your reward?" (Mt. 5, 46).
When we say "Church", of course, by this word we mean the whole people of God - not only the clergy and monasticism, but also all believers who, together with their spiritual shepherds, share the burden of the trials of the modern period in the being of Ukrainian Orthodoxy. They are trying to poison this people of God with anti-church propaganda, intimidation, and temptations without the slightest regret. However, joint prayers and services, which unite thousands of believers of our Church around the Orthodox shrines, testify that coercion and slander cannot divert the people of God from the path determined by their religious beliefs. This becomes especially eloquently clear when we see that the churches that were captured, that is, taken from the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, stand empty even on major holidays. In particular, this situation developed in the majestic cathedrals of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and other shrines. After the so-called change of religious subordination, the holy places, where intensified prayers for the Ukrainian state, its government, the army and the people were heard every day, were locked in large barn locks.
"If God does not protect the city, then the watchmen guard it in vain" (Ps. 126, 1), we read in the divinely inspired book of Psalms. These words of the Bible at the time of Ukraine's suffering from the full-scale Russian aggression expose the criminal actions of the initiators of the church discord, as a result of which, for the first time since the fall of the atheistic regime, the performance of the Divine Liturgy was stopped in the churches that had been prayed for centuries, as well as the prayers for the defenders of Ukraine, for the wounded and captured soldiers. , for the rest and all the suffering, whose tears only God can wipe away. On the other hand, the insult perpetrated on the temples by the people who, during the violent seizure, mercilessly break the doors and windows, desecrate the holy altars and beat the Christians, not only does not invite God's blessing, but also defies God. It is clear to everyone that the consequences of this challenge by the so-called activists will also be redeemed by those who tacitly condones their impunity, who closes their eyes to the open sacrilege imposed on Ukrainian society as a norm. One should call a spade a spade: the initiators and perpetrators of church raiding are outright spiritual enemies of the Ukrainian state, whose actions only deepen the destructive consequences of Russian aggression. After all, "God is not despised" (Gal. 6, 7).
The situation around the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, completely created by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, was no less a shame that shocked Christians from different parts of the globe. Believers are not allowed on the territory of the Lower Lavra to pray near the imperishable and miraculous relics of the cave reverend fathers. Currently, not only Kyivites, but also pilgrims from other cities and countries, who in such a difficult time try to visit the Lavra for prayer, cannot get to the shrine.
A situation has arisen in which only Orthodox Christians find themselves limited in their right to perform prayer worship at world-revered shrines, at a time when pilgrimages of representatives of other denominations and religions are provided with an administrative resource. It should also be noted that religious people will never agree to the demeaning treatment of relics as "museum exhibits", which is how these shrines have been repeatedly called by state officials. The actions of the representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine on the territory of the Nizhny Lavra are striking with legal and moral lawlessness against the monks of the Lavra, students and teachers of Kyiv theological schools, as well as believers and pilgrims. In such a situation, we put all our hope in God,
Special prayer support is needed today by bishops who are subjected to criminal persecution and are forcibly restricted in communication with their flock. As the lawyers point out, the accusations brought against them have no convincing confirmation in the materials of the court cases, and the very process of obtaining evidence and the trial is accompanied by a brazen violation of Ukrainian legislation. The Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is grateful to everyone who, to the best of their ability, helps the bishops who are being persecuted. Special gratitude to the Prelates and representatives of the episcopate of the Local Orthodox Churches and religious figures from different countries of the world who have shown their support.
Dear brothers and sisters! The Lord has blessed us to live in a time that especially requires living faith, full of love. Against the background of large-scale violations of state legislation and international norms regarding the rights and freedoms of people — believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church — the question often arises: how should Orthodox Christians respond to these challenges? Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself gave us the answer: "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who wrong you and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). Entrusting his church life to God, a Christian should "not by word or tongue, but by deed and truth" (1 Jn. 3, 18) show love and kindness to others in conditions of a complete lack of these qualities. In difficult historical periods of church history, Christian love and kindness in response to all forms of evil changed the world and brought the Church to new levels of its prosperity. Therefore, even now, in the concern for the future of the Church, each of us should focus not on a noisy confrontation with people who are hostile to us, but on an effective testimony about Christ and His Church, reflecting in our words and deeds God Himself, who is Love.
May the Lord, with His grace, bless the Ukrainian state and its people with a life in peace, protecting it from every enemy and adversary, because to Him alone belongs the blessing and honor, and glory and the state forever and ever (Revelation 5, 13).