Our attention was drawn to a message on a religious-political telegram channel, the author of which wrote about the fact that representatives of the UOC and the OCU allegedly co-served. The situation took place in Volyn, where, according to the website of the Volyn diocese of the UOC, in the village of Poddubtsy, the Lutsk region, a funeral service was held for a supernumerary deacon of the UOC, who was taken to the front according to the agenda. The funeral service and burial was led by the vicar bishop of the Volyn diocese Athanasius (German).
However, the event acquired a specific color due to the fact that in the photo from other information resources, along with the clergy of the UOC, one can see representatives of the OCU. We turned to our sources in the Volyn diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for comment in order to try to clarify what happened and report on the details of the incident.
First, it is worth saying a few words about the deceased. Mykola Matvienko graduated from the Volyn Theological Seminary in 2014. Later he was ordained a deacon by Metropolitan Vladimir (Melnik) of Vladimir-Volynsky and Kovel. After some time, due to contradictions with the ruling bishop, he was appointed to the staff, but he did not leave the Church. He regularly attended Divine Services, went to confession and took communion. For a long time he lived and existed as a layman: family, work, etc. Shortly before his death, he received a summons, and since there were no official reasons for the delay, he went to the army, to the front, where he died a few months after being sent.
Secondly, it is worth separately describing the situation with the funeral service for military personnel – not only in Volyn, but throughout western Ukraine. The institute of chaplains, formed in the OCU back in 2014, showed itself from different sides. We all remember the news about the detention of OCU chaplains for smuggling everything (even weapons), but this did not change their influence on the situation as a whole. The chaplains of the OCU literally ousted the clergy of the UOC from military units and worked for years to consolidate their authority in these circles. Thanks to this, every dead soldier, even if he is a believer of the UOC, falls under the responsibility of the OCU chaplains. Information about the dead passes through the military registration and enlistment offices that sent them to the front, and already their representatives insistently demand from relatives that it is the representatives of the OCU who bury the deceased. There were cases when it came to threats, they say, if you don’t have a funeral service in the OCU, you won’t receive compensation. Sometimes relatives had to perform the main part of the memorial service in the temples of the OCU, and then the priest of the canonical Church performed a second funeral already at the cemetery. Yes, many people are afraid. Someone condemns, others – to be left without compensation (15 million, be that as it may – the amount is not small and often becomes a serious support for an orphaned family). Therefore, even in people who consider themselves parishioners of the UOC, purely human emotions and experiences are triggered at such critical moments.
Thirdly, it is necessary to separately describe what happened in Poddubtsy and whether there was a conscious concelebration between the UOC and the OCU. As we were informed, such a case, alas, is not an isolated one. It happens approximately as follows. When the priests of the UOC are already starting the funeral, 5-7 minutes after that, the already “clothed” representatives of the OCU come, who insolently stand on a par with our clergy. Exactly the same thing happened this time. Although they did not utter a word at that time, it is naturally impossible to drive them out in the middle of a memorial service. In any case, they will play the situation in a way that suits them, accusing the UOC of anything. Moreover, no one can forbid them to enter the temple at this moment, since such memorial services are called “civil”, that is, anyone can be in the church at such moments.
Therefore, to assess this situation unambiguously critically, in our opinion, is not entirely correct. Yes, it is extremely difficult in Volhynia now. Representatives of the OCU feel that they are the masters of life at all levels, actively using this. How to act correctly in such a situation is difficult to say. But hence the counter question – what would those who criticize this situation do?
