IT'S TOO EARLY FOR FILARET TO REST ON HIS LAURELS
Statements about the transfer of monastery and churches in Ukraine may delay the prospects of autocephaly
by Yanina Sokolovskaia, Pavel Korobov
In Ukraine, the struggle for church buildings and monasteries is flaring up against the background of the prospects of receiving from the Constantinople patriarchate a tomos concerning autocephaly. The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate (UPTsKP, which is not recognized by other Orthodox churches), Filaret, spoke about the transfer to the future Ukrainian church of the Kiev caves and Pochaev lavras, which now are at the disposal of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UPTsMP). Kommersant's source in the Constantinople patriarchate made it clear that Filaret's statement may lead to "beatings of believers" and "delay the prospects of getting the tomos." Representatives of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church fear the start in Ukraine of a new war for church buildings and monasteries.
"All structures which now are occupied by the UPTs (MP—Komm.) must be transferred to the new Ukrainian church," the head of the UPTsKP, Filaret, declared. "The lavras, both the one and the second will be transferred to the Ukrainian church." He is talking about the Kiev caves and Pochaev lavras. Filaret did not mention the Sviatogorsk lavra located outside Donetsk. "There is not any property of the Moscow patriarchate in Ukraine. The Kiev caves and Pochaev lavras are Ukrainian shrines, which the Moscow patriarchate has nothing to do with," Filaret declared. He said, the tomos (document about autocephaly) will be received by the "new head of the Ukrainian church, who will be elected at a unification council, and the unification council will consist of bishops of the Kiev patriarchate, that is 41 bishops, 12 bishops of the Autocephalous Church, and ten bishops of the Moscow patriarchate."
In Ukraine, three Orthodox churches are functioning. The UPTsMP, led by Metropolitan Onufrey, is the only church in the country recognized in the Orthodox world. The UPTsKP, led by Patriarch Filaret, which broke away from the RPTs in 1992, is called in Moscow schismatic, and its primate was placed under anathema back in 1997 by the RPTs. The Ukrainian Autocephalous Church (UAPTs) was created in 1917 and its head is Metropolitan Makary.
The UPTsMP also reacted to Filaret's statement. Its chancellor, Metropolitan Antony, told journalists that he fears "the spread of seizures of church buildings throughout Ukrainian territory." "In each village, in each parish, there will be found people who want to seize our churches." The metropolitan thinks that "the question of autocephaly is a political project, a part of the election campaign." The metropolitan noted that in his message to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko promised protection only for those believers who will transfer into the new Ukrainian church. "The tomos is not a church question; it is a question of geopolitics," Metropolitan Antony is sure.
"It is characteristic that all of this is being said without a desire to learn the opinion of believers themselves, who go to these churches," Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, the secretary for inter-Orthodox relations of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow patriarchate, noted in a conversation with Kommersant. "It is being proposed that all believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will be driven out of their cloisters and churches, and the churches will be transferred to different owners. It is not difficult to suppose how this may end, considering the number of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (of the MP—Komm.). Without doubt such statements are provocations."
"Calls of the Kiev patriarchate for transfer of key church buildings and monasteries, including the Kiev caves lavra, within the context of the current crisis, should be viewed as an attempt to radicalize the situation," agrees the head of the Center for Study of Problems of Religion and Society of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Roman Lunkin. "Filaret wants to enlist the support of the authorities for construction of a future 'united local church' and to mobilize his supporters. But such calls may provoke disorders and stand-offs around church buildings and the redistribution of church property. Filaret's supporters set believers against one another and prepare the ground for parish war, when each community will be forced to decide whom it is with, with the UPTs or with a group that declares itself the one church."
"The patriarchate of Constantinople is trying to drive the Moscow patriarchate aside and what is happening on Ukrainian territory coincides with our interests," a source in the Petro Poroshenko bloc told Kommersant. He said, the transfer of the churches of the UPTsMP and the UPTsKP to the ownership of the new Ukrainian church is quite possible and legal. Now the majority of churches in Ukraine are state property rented to religious organizations. The Kiev caves lavra for example, is a museum. The law on freedom of conscience prescribes that "liturgical buildings and property, which are in state ownership, are given to religious organizations for use by decisions of oblast and city administrations. They may change these users," Kommersant's interlocutor declared.
In his turn, Kommersant's source, who is close to the cabinet of ministers of Ukraine, noted that "many church buildings have historical and cultural value, and there cannot be any talk about their transfer to ownership by the churches." As regards existing contracts for transfer for use, they can be terminated "on common bases," in accordance with an explanation of the Supreme Economics Court of Ukraine, Kommersant's interlocutor added.
Kommersant's source in the Constantinople patriarchate confirmed that "for us Filaret and the UPTsKP do not exist, but the UPTs (MP—Komm.) is now legally a part of the Russian Orthodox Church. The primate of the new church will be chosen in Constantinople, but each statement by Filaret about the prospects for seizure of lavras, monasteries, and church buildings delays the prospects for getting a tomos. Constantinople does not need beatings of believers in Ukraine." (tr. by PDS, posted 2 October 2018)
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