The Other Ukraine War
The War Against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Mixed up in Vivek Ramaswamy’s flurry of comments on Ukraine at the Second Republican Primary Debate were remarks concerning the Ukrainian authorities' persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). This was completely ignored by the other candidates and NBC’s commentators.
But this isn’t the first time the question has been raised.
Politicians assuring us it’s just Russian propaganda. The truth is that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) has faced sustained persecution since 2018; since the Russian invasion in February 2022 persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) has evolved into a national campaign of terror - mirroring in many ways the Soviet persecution they faced a century ago.
October 19, 2023, the Ukrainian Parliament moved to outlaw the UOC and seize their property. MPs opposing the bill received public death threats - even inside parliament itself. Artem Dmytruk, MP and formerly a member of Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, posted a video on Instagram with the caption;
“... The destruction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church continues systematically! The authorities in the country are committing genocide against their citizens!
The video shows SBU soldiers surrounding the Banchery monastery to seize it without a warrant. Metropolitan Longin, abbot of Banchery, has ten sons fighting on the frontlines, four of them having been personally disabled in combat1. Metropolitan Longin is now in prison awaiting trial. Since then, his lawyer has been murdered2 and he is experiencing severe heart issues3. Thousands of churches in villages across Ukraine have met a similar fate.
But why is the Ukrainian Government going after the UOC? That answer requires a walk down memory lane.
For reference, the Orthodox Church is composed of numerous self-governing (or Autocephalous) churches, many of them founded by the Apostles - such as Antioch and Jerusalem. All Orthodox bishops are of equal rank and govern together in their respective Synod - the highest ecclesial authority.
The history of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) can be traced to the Baptism of Rus when Grand Prince Vladimir of Kiev and his people - the Kievan Rus - were baptized in the Dnieper River in 988 AD. Accordingly, Kievan Rus is the common ancestor of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus
After the USSR collapsed the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), Metropolitan Filaret, was nominated to be Patriarch of Moscow. He was not chosen.
Out of spite he declared himself “Patriarch of Kiev and All Russia,” calling his group the UOC-KP (Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kievan Patriarchate). Filaret gathered around himself a small group of hardline nationalists who confused patriotism with faith.4 The rest of Ukraine remained faithful to the UOC; Filaret was excommunicated and laicized, with every Orthodox jurisdiction affirming this decision, including Constantinople.5
Another result of the fall of the USSR was the independence of the UOC from Moscow. The UOC became autonomous; their only obligation to Moscow is to announce the death of the Ukrainian Primate - the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine - and to inform the Patriarch upon the election of a new primate. With these stipulations, the UOC is completely free to govern its own affairs. This autonomy as also officially recognized by all other Orthodox Churches, including Constantinople.
The Simmering Schism Boils Over
Patriarch Bartholemew of Constantinople, ostensibly troubled by the lack of unity between the canonical church and the schismatic groups, invited Filaret’s UOC-KP and another schismatic sect to Kiev offering to lead a “Unification Council,” in late 2018. Additionally, he sent individual invitations to the 114 bishops of the UOC, bypassing the Holy Synod. Learning of Bartholemew’s intentions the Synod of the UOC released an epistle6 stating that being Autocephalous it was the only body able to convoke a council in Ukraine. They further stated that Bartholomew was violating numerous church canons, that his council’s decisions were illegitimate, may result in a broader schism, and ultimately could affect his own dethronement by a future church-wide council.
Bartholomew went forward anyway.
He unilaterally declared authority over Ukraine, stating that henceforth, the schismatics (newly renamed the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, or OCU) would be recognized as the real church and that the universally recognized, millennia old UOC was no longer legitimate. When other Orthodox jurisdictions protested, he claimed to be a “universal patriarch” with special privileges whose decisions are infallible; essentially proclaiming himself Pope.
This has driven a deep wedge in the global Orthodox Church, and Bartholomew has refused to convoke a pan-Orthodox council ever since.
American Intelligence: Stranger Than Fiction
One the OCU was established, the United States State Department immediately released a statement supporting its formation. More importantly, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo contacted the primates of the churches in America, Serbia, Romania, Jerusalem, Antioch, and others to gain their backing for the new church. The leaked tape of Victoria Nuland7 revealing the State Departments control of the new Ukrainian government made Americans aware of the US’ direct involvement in the 2014 Maidan coup. Less well-known is the CIA’s Doctrinal Warfare Program.8 This program subverts religious organizations, educational institutions, and systems of thought deemed “hostile to American objectives.”
With that in mind, it’s an open secret in the Orthodox community that Constantinople has long been a CIA asset. For example, according to declassified CIA documents, Patriarch Athenagoras, close friend to FDR and Greek Archbishop of North & South America, told the CIA;
“Everyone under my order is under yours. You may command them for any service you require. There will be no questions asked and your directions will be executed faithfully.”9
Harry Truman even loaned Athenagoras his jet to make his appointment in Istanbul as Patriarch of Constantinople - also orchestrated by the CIA.
This revelation makes sense of Constantinople's sudden change of opinion on Filaret and his schismatics but may leave some wondering why the State Department was so eager to aid in legitimizing the OCU. What do they gain?
It was hoped that, at the local level, this new state church would lend legitimacy to the Poroshenko regime and perhaps even rally many ethnically Russian Ukrainians to the state's cause.
The so-called head of the schismatics, Sergei Epiphany Dumenko, has long promised Western diplomats that it will play ball with the LGBT agenda.10 Since this revelation was brought to light the OCU has ordained homosexual clergy,11 and accepted millions in donations from NGOs to fund programs which aim to embed LGBT activists into their parishes to undermine church teaching. This is the big picture reason for US involvement in Church affairs.
It is hoped that by doing so a permanent wedge can be driven between Ukraine and Russia, as up to this point the Slavic churches have fiercely resisted any capitulation whatsoever to modern western values. If Ukraine can be forced under the thumb of Western intelligence, like the Greeks, this will tip the balance of World Orthodoxy towards Western secularism - the modern Western crusade…
Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian president, immediately recognized the OCU and launched a propaganda campaign calling the OUC a fifth column working for Putin, calling them the “Russian Church in Ukraine” or “UOC-MP” as it’s often mislabeled, even though every member of the UOC is a Ukrainian citizen and over 73% of the Ukrainian population in 2018 belonged to the UOC.
The schismatics began seizing UOC parishes across Ukraine - with local police support12 - claiming their membership rolls to be their own. The people, having lost their temples, now meet in their homes, forests, and even caves as in the days of Roman persecution. The seized churches which aren’t demolished sit mostly empty.13
The Russian Invasion and its effects
Since the Russian invasion thousands of churches (over 4,000 by some estimates) have been seized by mobs of schismatics, members of the Uniate church, members of Right Sector militias and police auxiliaries, leaving entire provinces without a church. Multiple bishops have been arrested by the SBU - successor of the KGB. The Abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, Metropolitan Paul, received two years house arrest; Metropolitans Luke, Joseph, and Jonathon were given three to five years in prison.1415
Consider this: not a shred of substantial evidence showing that these men are colluding with Russia in any way has been presented to the public. The “evidence” in one case was a book on Tsar Nicholas II - a saint venerated by all Orthodox Christians for suffering martyrdom at the hands of the Bolsheviks - and other biographical works on 20th-century Russian leaders (pictured below). Meanwhile, priests, monks, and the elderly have been beaten, stabbed, and kidnapped for defending their temples from the mob. 16
These nefarious activities mirror the Bolshevik persecution of the Church in the years prior to the Second World War. The Soviets supported the schismatic Living Church, banned, and brutally suppressed the Orthodox Churches. It should be noted that this schismatic movement and state persecution were also supported by the Patriarch of Constantinople.17
The Soviets went on to kill millions of Christians while leaders from the Living Church told the world there was no persecution. The Soviets claimed that those imprisoned and killed were “foreign agents” and not being persecuted for their allegiance to the Church; the Emigre press was initially full of reports of persecution, but their voices were silenced by the Western powers to avoid political inconvenience. In fact, the primate of the UOC, St. Vladimir of Kiev, predecessor of the rightful primate of the contemporary Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the saintly Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev (both pictured below), was the first bishop martyred by the Soviets.
It seems history is repeating itself.
While the UN speaks at length of Ukraine’s persecution of the church and we Orthodox raise our voices, Western media is silent and even providing cover for the government in Kiev.
Why?…
We don’t have to choose between denouncing Russian aggression and supporting basic human rights for Ukrainians; we can do both. The American government could stop the persecution of the Church in Ukraine in a single day, but if we don't raise our voices, they won't.
It is up to each and every one of us to be a voice for the voiceless; I hope you will join me in raising the alarm and will share this post, raise awareness, and call your elected officials to demand action. Ukraine must know that if it wants to join the West, as it claims, then it must abide by international law and stop persecuting its already suffering people for their religious beliefs and affiliation.
https://spzh.news/ua/news/76906-mitropolit-lonhin-silovikam-vernit-mojikh-ditej-z-frontu-potim-prikhodte
https://spzh.news/ua/news/77018-politsija-vidkrila-kriminalnu-spravu-cherez-smert-advokata-mitropolita-lonhina
https://spzh.news/ua/news/77385-mitropolita-lonhina-znovu-hospitalizuvali-cherez-problemi-z-sertsem
In the Orthodox Church, placing one’s nation or ethnicity above the Church, or, conflating faith and nation, is a grave sin called Ethno-Phyletism. The Church is One, transcending all barriers. https://orthochristian.com/116609.html
Official History of Defrocking and Anathematization of Filaret Dumenko, with documents; https://orthochristian.com/116586.html
Resolutions of Holy Synod of Ukraine; https://orthochristian.com/117783.html
Leaked Transcript of Nuland-Pyatt call; https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26079957
CIA Documents relating to Pat. Athenagoros and Greek Archdiocese; https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80R01731R003200050006-0.pdf
Correspondence between Athenagoras and CIA; https://orthodoxhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/1942-correspondence-between-Athenagoras-OSS-head.pdf
Epiphanius Dumenko says he will work for LGBT agenda; https://p.dw.com/p/3AZxU
OCU appoints cleric involved in homoscandal to serve in seized temple; https://spzh.news/en/news/70337
Schismatics seize churches with direct support of police and Territorial Defense Forces: https://spzh.news/ua/news/77370
“They will come back”: OCU priest hopes parishoners will return; https://spzh.news/ua/news/76469
Sentencing of Metropolitan Joaseph; https://orthochristian.com/153569.html
Sentencing of Metropolitan Jonathon; https://orthochristian.com/155312.html
Ukrainian priest attacked during the Divine Liturgy; https://orthochristian.com/150324.html
See sections for 1924 & 1925 in particular; https://orthodoxhistory.org/2019/10/02/