UOC-MP threatens sanctions against President Yushchenko (05/14/06)

UOC-MP threatens sanctions against President Yushchenko

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - The Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) has threatened sanctions, even excommunication, against President Viktor Yushchenko after he confessed and received holy communion in a Kyiv Patriarchate church.

Mr. Yushchenko accepted the sacraments during an Easter liturgy at St. Volodymyr Cathedral which he attened early in the morning of April 23, with, his wife Kateryna, brother Petro, son Taras and political colleagues.

Leading the liturgy and dispensing communion was Patriarch Filaret, who was excommunicated from the UOC-MP in 1997 for leading the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP).

"According to the rules, those who come into contact with those excommunicated from the Church should receive punishment themselves," said Vasyl Anisimov, a UOC-MP spokesman. "A leader who accepts sacraments with schismatics isn't only a participant in the schism, but also a teacher of schisms."

The UOC-MP's latest criticisms illuminate the sensitive political tightrope Mr. Yushchenko has been walking with regard to religion in Ukraine, a tense situation that most ordinary Ukrainians confront in their personal lives.

Born in 1954, Mr. Yushchenko was probably baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church, the only religious body that was legal in the Soviet Union.

During his presidency, however, Mr. Yushchenko has made many gestures that indicate he is not loyal to the UOC-MP, which doesn't recognize any other Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

Frequently, he has appeared in public with Patriarch Filaret, allowing him to lead liturgy at important government ceremonies.

On Easter Sunday this year, Mr. Yushchenko didn't visit the Kyivan Caves Monastery or any UOC-MP site.

The president has also called for the creation of a united pomisna (particular) Church in Ukraine that would unite all Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Ukrainians, a goal fiercely opposed by the UOC-MP.

In baptizing their three children, Viktor and Kateryna Yushchenko didn't select UOC-MP churches.

Sofiya, born in 1999, and Khrystyna, born in 2000, were both baptized in the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), according to Maryna Antonova, spokeswoman for the first lady.

Their third child, Taras, born in 2004, was baptized in the Kyiv Patriarchate, Ms. Antonova said.

Furthermore, the February 2005 funeral for Mr. Yushchenko's mother, Varvara, was held at St. Volodymyr Cathedral, a Kyiv Patriarchate church.

For his place of worship Mr. Yushchenko prefers St. Michael Cathedral, a Kyiv Patriarchate church, because he frequented it when he lived nearby as a private citizen, said Larissa Mudrak, a spokeswoman for the Presidential Secretariat.

All these gestures have drawn sharp criticism from the UOC-MP. "He didn't research canonical matters when he became president," said Oleksander Danilevskyi, a UOC-MP spokesman.

"He attached himself to Filaret, but that has been one of his biggest presidential mistakes. He's looking for spiritual support in a place that can't offer any."

Despite his loyalty to the Kyiv Patriarchate, it remains unclear whether President Yushchenko has made the formal switch.

Spokesmen from neither the UOC-MP nor the UOC-KP could confirm whether Mr. Yushchenko was a member of their respective Churches.

Mr. Yushchenko is a member of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, said Ms. Mudrak, declining to offer any more specifics.

Mr. Yushchenko's reception of communion on Easter Sunday doesn't reveal anything because the UOC-KP allows any Orthodox Christian to receive communion in its churches.

The UOC-MP, meanwhile, forbids those baptized in the UOC-KP from receiving communion in its churches because, in its view, the Kyiv Patriarchate is non-canonical and, therefore, doesn't have God's blessing.

"Those attending his Church aren't aware that it's a schismatic sect," Mr. Danilevskyi said. "The sacraments and communion they receive don't have God's blessing, and they, therefore, have no power or meaning."

Mr. Yushchenko hasn't excluded the UOC-MP from high-profile events, however.

At the 1:23 a.m. ceremony commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, Mr. Yushchenko prayed alongside Metropolitan Volodymyr of the UOC-MP, who led the moleben services.

The president invited the leaders of all confessions to attend the Easter Sunday liturgy in St. Volodymyr Cathedral, but Metropolitan Volodymyr declined to attend or send a representative, said Ms. Mudrak of Mr. Yushchenko's press office.

While Mr. Yushchenko appears to divide his loyalty between the Moscow and Kyiv Patriarchates, Mrs. Yushchenko appears divided between the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

Her religious confession also is unknown, as her spokeswoman Ms. Antonova would only say that the first lady belongs to the "Ukrainian Patriarchate."

UOC-MP officials were confident the first lady is not a member of their confession.

When she lived in the United States, Mrs. Yushchenko was a member of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Ms. Antonova said.

By receiving communion in a "schismatic Church," the Ukrainian president is only encouraging division among Ukrainian Orthodox faithful, rather than fostering the unity that he claims to be seeking, Mr. Danilevskyi said.

At least four "schismatic" Orthodox Churches are operating in Ukraine, he said.

Besides the Orthodox Church led by Patriarch Filaret (Denysenko), there is the Autocephalous Church led by Metropolitan Mefodii Kudriakov, the self-proclaimed "canonical" Autocephalous Church led by Patriarch Moisei Kulyk and the Autocephalous Church led by Archbishop Ihor Isichenko that was registered with the government in March, Mr. Danilevskyi said.

President Yushchenko's calls for a single pomisna (particular) Church, therefore, are hollow, he said. "The president is trying to hold discussions to create a Ukrainian pomisna Church, and it simply doesn't look competent from his side," Mr. Danilevskyi said.

Whether or not Mr. Yushchenko belongs to the UOC-MP, Mr. Anisimov said that for "schismatics" to return, they must seek penance and pray for permission.

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