Cherkasy, Cherkasy Province, Ukraine, June 20, 2024
Photo: raskolam.net
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) continues to relentlessly harass and persecute His Eminence Metropolitan Theodosy of Cherkasy of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The SBU launched a fourth round of searches at his personal residence yesterday, and officially informed him of a fifth charge against him.
Like other UOC hierarchs and priests, the Metropolitan is facing trumped-up charges of supporting the Russian war and of inciting religious enmity. The latter charges stem from the hierarchs’ homilies and statements in defense of Orthodoxy against the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.” Met. Theodosy was under round-the-clock house arrest for much of 2023, and has been under nighttime house arrest ever since.
According to the Metropolitan, yesterday’s search was formally launched in connection with a criminal case stemming from a homily he gave for one of the persecuted parishes of the Cherkasy Province, though he believes the real reason lies elsewhere.
As he explained, SBU officers have approached him several times lately to try to convince him to be exchanged to Russia as an “enemy prisoner of war.”
The bishop refused, emphasizing that he is neither an enemy of Ukraine nor prisoner of war, and that he if pressure increased, he would be forced to tell the international community about it. The hierarch has done much to bring international attention to the facts of the state persecution of holy Orthodoxy in Ukraine. He is among the founding hierarchs of the international human rights association Church Against Xenophobia and Religious Discrimination and has addressed the United Nations several times.
During the search, the SBU seized a copy of the Cherkasy Diocesan statutes, which Met. Theodosy believes is due to the aim of illegally re-registering the Cherkasy cathedral.
His Eminence called on his clergy not to keep any documents at home or in their churches, and for the faithful to strengthen their prayers.
The SBU then announced a fifth investigation against the hierarch, again accusing him of inciting religious enmity, through the diocesan YouTube and Facebook pages.
The issue of another preventative measure against the bishop is currently being discussed. In his message, Met. Theodosy warned that he could be placed back under house arrest, or worse, to try to convince him to leave Ukraine.
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