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Week 01.06-6.06.2021

1) Archbishop of Phanar Elpidophorus expelled Zorya from the USA, – social media

Our comment

This news attracts attention for several reasons. If the information published in the schismatic environment is true, it can be assumed that:

• The Patriarchate of Constantinople is unhappy with the interference of their Ukrainian subordinates in the affairs of the diaspora, because the Tomos provided to them clearly indicates that the OCU cannot have foreign parishes. Accordingly, although the OCU is trying to create the appearance of an independent church structure, the completely failed overseas direction suggests the opposite. In this light, the canonical UOC looks more visually, which is strengthening its influence abroad, having made a decision at a recent Synod to organize communities in other countries to nourish its believers;
• It is too early to write off UOC-KP and Filaret. Tellingly, the “Filaretites” are especially stubborn in the diaspora. After the massive statements by representatives of the UOC-KP parishes in the United States and Europe about Denisenko’s loyalty, another serious signal followed – the registration of statutory documents of the UOC-KP vicariate in the United States. This “bell” is addressed not only to the opposing “OCU”, but also to the specialized departments of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine (read – to the Ukrainian authorities). It is the latter who persist in refusing to renew the registration of the “UOC KP” in Ukraine. It seems that Filaret has connected his old ties in the State Department, which, by the way, are largely tied precisely to the President of the United States, Joe Biden. It cannot be ruled out that in the near future this situation will also affect the Ukrainian church battles.

2) The course of discrimination against the UOC is being “put into the ears” of Zelensky by someone, – the representative of the UOC in the Rada

Our comment

Unfortunately, there is no doubt about this, since Volodymyr Zelensky is consistently copying ex-president Petr Poroshenko’s policies. The only difference is that under Poroshenko’s course of discrimination against the UOC was associated with the desire to make the population fall in love with Tomos and everything connected with it. But under Zelensky, the pressure on the UOC has a slightly different character, since: a) it is inspired by individual lobbyists of the interests of the OCU, to which the Prime Minister and the Minister of Culture can be safely attributed (if we do not take into account the deputy corps), b) is used as ” bargaining chip “in possible negotiations with the President of the Russian Federation, who just recently announced that in Ukraine, in addition to violations of civil rights, the canonical Church is also persecuted. It is quite possible that the OP decided to use this moment, drawing attention to the keen interest in this issue of Vladimir Putin.

3) The political leaders of the Serbs of Montenegro refused to support the prime minister after refusing to sign an agreement with the SOC

Our comment

Unfortunately, spectacular and lengthy prayer protests in defense of the SOC in Montenegro did not bring the expected result, although they significantly reduced the pressure on the Church. It is difficult to judge for sure what the reasons for this intermediate fiasco are, but this experience is undoubtedly useful for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It is undoubtedly necessary to show your civic position, but to make of this a kind of protest actions, to which, like other protests anywhere in the world, people get used to it very quickly nowadays is not worth it. Most likely, it is much more important to carry out comprehensive work at all possible levels. Obviously, prayer protests alone will not be able to completely solve the problem.

4) The head of the Ministry of Culture told why the officials went to the Georgian Patriarch

Our comment

As we wrote above, Minister of Culture Alexander Tkachenko is one of the active lobbyists of the OCU in the Ukrainian government. The one who for a long time held the post of the head of “1 + 1” and TSN, who regularly issued monstrous fakes about the canonical UOC. The Minister of Culture of Ukraine admitted that the Ukrainian government is trying to persuade the Primate of the Georgian Church to recognize the OCU. This is how Tkachenko commented on the visit of the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal to the Georgian Patriarchate and his meeting with Catholicos Ilia II.

Unfortunately, the assumption of our colleagues from the Pravblog Telegram channel that it is the Georgian Church that can become the next in line for recognition by the OCU is well supported. In addition, the goals of internal conflicts in the GOC, which are most likely designed to destabilize the internal climate, are not yet fully understood. Against this background, the news that OCU is discovering Georgia as a new pilgrimage route looks very eloquent against this background.