Prešov, Slovakia, September 9, 2024
eparchiapo.sk
The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, under the chairmanship of His Beatitude Metropolitan Rastislav of Prešov, adopted a statement in support of the persecuted Ukrainian Orthodox Church last week, after Ukraine passed a law to ban the Church there.
The Czech-Slovak Church has consistently defended Orthodoxy in Ukraine, refusing to recognize the schismatic organization that was created by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in 2018.
The passing of the bill “fills to the brim the cup of bitterness that the clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have been drinking for several decade,” the Czech-Slovak Synod writes.
On the eve of the 82nd anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Bishop Gorazd (Pavlík), we are filled with sorrow by the news that on August 20, 2024, the Ukrainian Parliament approved a bill whose main purpose is to ban the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This decision fills to the brim the cup of bitterness that the clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have been drinking for several decades—a cup of persecution and oppression, hatred and defamation, aggression and attacks, even associated with bloodshed.
The imprisonment of bishops, the seizure of churches and monasteries, and all other repressive measures against the clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are painfully reminiscent of how various totalitarian regimes treated the Christian Church. It is disheartening that such a law was passed by the legislative body of a democratic state, which is a priori expected to be the main guarantor of fundamental human rights and freedoms.
The Orthodox Church has many times in its history experienced moments that could be described in the words of the Book of Psalms: Princes have persecuted me without a cause, and because of Thy words my heart hath been afraid (Ps. 118:161). We are convinced that even now, God will not leave His faithful people without help, and the words of Scripture will again be fulfilled: Out of mine affliction I called upon the Lord, and He heard me and set me free (Ps. 117:5).
We express our support for His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, as well as the entire Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Apostle Paul says: Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it (1 Cor. 12:26). We do not forget these words and pray for God’s help and salvation for all the persecuted and suffering. We ask the clergy and faithful of the Orthodox Church in the Czech Lands and Slovakia to continue in prayers for peace in Ukraine and in the world. We believe that everyone who realizes that respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms is important not only for the life of one state but also for the entire world in which we live will join these prayers.
The Czech-Slovak Synod then quotes a number of other Orthodox and other Christian authorities who have already condemned the Ukrainian law and expressed support for the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, including His Holiness Patriarch Porifirije of Serbia, Patriarch-Catholicos Karekin II of Armenia, His Beatitude Patriarch John of Antioch, the World Council of Churches, Pope Francis, Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Awa III of the Assyrian Church of the East, the Holy Synod of the Albanian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Daniil of Bulgaria, the Jerusalem Patriarchate, and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Commenting on Pat. Porfirije’s letter, the Czech-Slovak Synod writes:
It is clear that degrading the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to a banned organization further legitimizes the ongoing permanent persecution, arrest, and oppression of its clergy and faithful and creates the possibility for further confiscation of its property. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is thus nailed to a new cross of suffering, and it seems that Ukrainian society is returning to the times of persecution of Christ’s Church by the Roman Empire.
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