Sumy, Ukraine, August 8, 2022
Photo: ruskline.ru
In response to a fake letter circulating online, His Eminence Metropolitan Evlogy and the Sumy Diocese issued a statement on Friday, confirming the Metropolitan’s unchanging position on the question of commemorating Patriarch Kirill during the Divine services.
The Sumy Diocese was the first to publicly announce its decision to stop commemorating the Patriarch, in early March.
In the fake letter, supposedly written just a few days later, Met. Evlogy supposedly informs the Patriarch that the decision was made under stress, in response to the demands of the clergy and people, and that it is only a temporary measure, which will end once the war ends.
The press service of the Sumy Diocese responds:
- Images have been published online with a text that appears to be a letter from Metropolitan Evlogy of Sumy and Okhtirka to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. In fact, such a letter doesn’t exist. There is no basis for any such insinuations.
- The text of the letter contains information that compromises Metropolitan Evlogy of Sumy and Okhtirka in the context of not commemorating Patriarch Kirill during Church services and his position regarding Russia’s military aggression against sovereign Ukraine. Such information isn’t true.
- The position of Metropolitan Evlogy of Sumy and Okhtirka regarding the assessment of Russia’s military aggression and invasion of the territory of Ukraine was expressed on February 24, 2022, and remains unchanged. Metropolitan Evlogy considers the military invasion of Russian troops a grave sin against God’s Law and a crime against the lives of the citizens of Ukraine, which he recognizes as an integral sovereign state. No other statements or assumptions are true.
- The suspension of the commemoration of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia during services in the churches of the Sumy Diocese was a consequence of Patriarch Kirill’s support for Russia's aggressive policy and armed aggression against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Until now, the name of Patriarch Kirill is not commemorated in the canonical territory of the Sumy Diocese. This procedure corresponds to the Statutes on the Administration of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, changes to which were adopted at the Council on May 27, 2022.
- We consider this incident an attempt to influence Metropolitan Evlogy and compromise him as the ruling Bishop of the border diocese, which is constantly under fire from Russia.
Additionally, Met. Evlogy published the text of two genuine letters he sent to the Patriarch in March.
The first letter reads:
The aggressive military actions of the troops of the Russian Federation on the territory of our sovereign state of Ukraine continue for the sixth day. The territory of the Sumy diocese, as bordering with Russia, was one of the first to be subjected to devastating attacks and shelling. Civilian are suffering, the blood of infants and children is being shed. Many people are deprived of shelter and means of livelihood.
In this most difficult situation of a humanitarian catastrophe, I received an appeal from the clergy and laity of the Sumy Diocese, who condemn Russia’s aggression against the Ukrainian state and declare the termination of commemoration of the name of the Patriarch of Moscow at the Divine services.
In addition, the teachers of the Sumy Theological Seminary also refuse to teach if the commemoration of the Patriarch of Moscow continues in the seminary.
In these difficult conditions, with the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, I have decided to stop commemorating the name of the Patriarch of Moscow at the Divine services. This decision is dictated by the difficult situation and the position of the clergy and flock of the Sumy Diocese. At the same time, such a position in no way means going into a schism or breaking communion with the fullness of the Church.
In response to this first letter, Pat. Kirill issued a resolution in March, stating that, “Ceasing to commemorate the primate of the Church, not because of doctrinal or canonical errors or aberrations, but because of a discrepancy with certain political views and preferences, is a schism, which everyone who commits it will answer for before God, and not only in the future age, but also in the present.”
Met. Evlogy then sent a second letter, reaffirming his strong stance against the war.
“I see pictures of innocent civilians with limbs torn off by explosions, with entrails torn apart from wounds every day. This is about my flock, over whom I bear archpastoral responsibility,” the Metropolitan wrote. Orthodox churches are also being damaged, the Sumy hierarch informed the Patriarch.
“Many people were waiting with great hope for Your Holiness’ primatial word, believing that the inhabitants of the Sumy land are part of your flock. Many sincerely hoped that the madness of the impending war could be stopped with the direct intervention of Your Holiness,” Met. Evlogy continued.
However, “In the conditions of the increasing military attack of the Russian army, the constantly growing number of killed and wounded civilians,” the clergy and faithful of the Sumy Diocese wrote to Met. Evlogy, demanding that Pat. Kirill no longer be commemorated in the services. His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine gave his blessing to take this step, Met. Evlogy writes.
“I consider such support from the First Hierarch of Kiev a weighty foundation for my actions,” the Sumy hierarch states.
In conclusion, he assured the Patriarch that there is no possibility of a schism:
I and the flock of the Sumy Diocese entrusted to me are in obedience and canonical subordination to the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which doesn’t contradict Church canons, but corresponds to the ancient liturgical practice of the holy Local Orthodox Churches, preserved in the tradition of the Kiev Metropolia since the 17th century. The preservation of the prayerful commemoration of the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church doesn’t allow for an interpretation of the non-commemoration of the Patriarch as a schism. I have no such intention and I urge my flock to remain in the bosom of holy Orthodoxy.
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