2024 can be remembered by many as a year of Christian suffering.
Ukraine
The oppression against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has not let up—to the contrary, the past year has seen the persecution against it only deepen. The most sacred place in the Ukraine, the Kiev Caves Lavra, has been almost entirely taken over by the uncanonical “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”, and its magnificent churches, practically empty of worshippers, have been repurposed as concert venues and cooking shows (cooking meat, of course, during the Nativity fast). Blasphemies abound, including physical attacks on Orthodox bishops. Metropolitan Longin of Bukovina and Chernovitsi was attacked in his own home—an event that left his hundreds of adopted orphans traumatized. Metropolitan Theodosy of Cherkassy had to be hospitalized after being hit on the head and sprayed in the eyes with tear gas. This is not to mention the physical attacks on his parishioners and clergy during this outrageous seizure of his cathedral church, its building fund, and all its valuables by so-called “priests” of the non-canonical structure.
Ukrainian priests have been hauled off to the front, despite the fact that it is forbidden for an Orthodox clergyman to spill blood. Priests and their families have been kicked out of their homes, clergy and laymen imprisoned, mocked, and abused. Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod is under house arrest, Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchin was arrested and released to Russia, and Metropolitan Arseny of Sviatogorsk is in detention, continually traveling back and forth from the detention center to regional court for trial.
And in August came the largest nail in the cross: The entire canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church was officially banned by the Ukrainian parliament—which opens wide the door for even greater persecution and seizure of church property.
Meanwhile, the Pope of Rome, who earlier gave assurances that he would not recognize the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” and its head, “Metropolitan” Epiphany Dumenko, received the latter in the Vatican on December 15. It was a symbolic visit, which, no matter what sauce it’s going to be served under, is an admission of the Vatican’s willingness to turn a blind eye to the ongoing destruction of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church—the largest and historically oldest religious confession in Ukraine. Treacherous though it be, it is not surprising, given Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew’s many friendly meetings at which the reunification of Roman Catholicism with Eastern Orthodoxy has been discussed. Patriarch Bartholomew has even gone as far as to announce his intentions to celebrate Pascha together with Catholics, calling the Orthodox practice “narrow-minded”. Apparently, to some it is also narrow-minded to view all of the above-mentioned persecutions against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as sinful, blasphemous, and plain outrageous.
Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhie has put it very clearly: The OCU and the Greek Catholic church in Ukraine—which is under the Roman Pope—have been talking about uniting under a single “Ukrainian” structure since the formation of the OCU. They have already concelebrated the Liturgy on numerous occasions. Regardless of who will head the union—“Metropolitan” Epiphany Dumenko or Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk—the structure would be de facto subject to the Pope of Rome. This is the latest version of an old song in Ukraine—bringing Orthodox Slavs under Rome by hook or by crook.
So, 2025 promises to be full of machinations of this stripe and color. But we will hold to our Holy Orthodox Church—and pray even more fervently, with tears of love and compassion for our Orthodox brothers and sisters in Ukraine as they are led to their Golgotha, together with His Beatitude Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine.
The Middle East
And neither let us forget our suffering brothers and sisters in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. Since the bombing of Gaza by Israeli forces began back in October, 2023, nearly 1,000 Palestinian Christians have been sheltering in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius and the Latin Monastery in the center of Gaza City. For more than a year now they have been living in these two churches with hardly any food, water, or electricity.1
Christians in Syria are bracing again for attacks by radical Muslims as chaos takes over in their country after the fall of President Bashar Asad. We have yet to see what their fate will be in the coming year.
So as we sit with our families and friends, be it at home or in our churches, let us hope in God’s mercy for the new year, that He grant us true repentance and prayer for our great family, the Holy Orthodox Church.
