Dialogue to the grinder sound: who UOC "negotiators" with OCU represent

UOC and OCU members have participated in several joint events recently. The topics discussed ranged from the rehabilitation of victims of Russia's war against Ukraine to the prevention of church conflicts. The question is what were the representatives of the UOC doing at these events? Or rather, who and what exactly did they represent there? Let’s find out.

Meetings

Firstly, let's name just a few events and give a summary of what went on there.

On October 20, 2023, the so-called "Saint Cyril Lukaris Centre" organized a "Youth Orthodox Dialogue School" in Kyiv, which brought together more than twenty "young Orthodox Christians" from the OCU and the UOC. According to Andriy Smirnov, director of the "Centre", the goal of the project was "to contribute to the prevention of church conflicts and reconciliation, the development of a culture of communication and cooperation among Orthodox believers by holding a three-day seminar for youth leaders of the OCU and UOC". Volodymyr Bureha, vice-rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary of the UOC, gave a lecture on "World Orthodoxy Today: Challenges and Prospects" at this seminar.

On 23 November, a seminar entitled "The Role of Public and Religious Organisations in the Social and Psychological Rehabilitation of War Victims" was held in Varash. This seminar was attended by several UOC priests from the Volyn Eparchy, as well as those who have defected to the OCU recently, such as Priest Oleksandr Kolb, who had been banned from ministry a month earlier for participating in a liturgy with the Phanar exarch and an OCU cleric.

At the beginning of December, a seminar entitled "Voices of Moderation" was held in Krakow. As one of its participants, KDA graduate Bohdan Mostovyi, reported the participants "shared their views on overcoming the schism in Ukrainian Orthodoxy" and "representatives of the UOC and the OCU were unanimous on most issues, which ‘gives hope'". Together with Mostovyi, the Krakow event was attended by Ruslan Bortnyk, an official of the UOC DECR.

Dialogue

Well, it would seem nothing special in joint events. Moreover, many of the UOC, who consider themselves "adequate" Orthodox Christians, will even say that such meetings are wonderful, that "we are trying to build a dialogue with our opponents". What is wrong with that?

There is really nothing wrong with dialogue but only if both sides seek this very dialogue. At the moment, 99% of OCU members, led by Dumenko, have actually declared war on our Church. A war in which there are no rules, which is being waged with unprecedented violence and cynicism. There is no point in reminding the readers about Cherkasy, Lviv, Bila Tserkva or Ivano-Frankivsk because everyone knows this. But it is very necessary to remember what the Council in Feofania tells us.

So, the Council's decisions clearly state that our Church "does not lose hope for the resumption of dialogue". But for dialogue to take place, OCU representatives should "stop the seizure of churches and forced transfers of parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church". That is, without fulfilling this condition, without stopping physical violence against the Church, there can be no dialogue.

Also, our brothers from the UOC who seek dialogue with the enemies of the Church from the OCU would rather be reminded of the position of the late Patriarch Alexy, who refused to meet with the Pope because of the destruction of three UOC eparchies in Western Ukraine by the Uniates. He then set a condition for the Pope to condemn Greek Catholic proselytism. The Pope refused, and the Patriarch cancelled the meeting. Why? Because he understood that his meeting with the Roman Pontiff in conditions when the Uniates were destroying Orthodoxy would be perceived as a betrayal, as a spit in the face of those Orthodox who, defending their churches, suffered from the bandits from the UGCC.

And in our opinion, this is what all these meetings with representatives of the OCU look like today. Like spitting in the face of the priest in Cherkasy who had his jaw broken by OCU "believers", or the cleric who was sprayed in the face with nerve gas in Ivano-Frankivsk.

Betrayal

In this regard, the question of on whose behalf Bortnyk, Bureha, Mostovyi and others acted is particularly acute. Who did they represent? The entire UOC? Did they ask the believers, ordinary people? For example, those hundreds of communities, whom the "brothers" from the OCU kicked out of their churches? After all, no one authorised these theologians to negotiate with people who did not even think of fulfilling the conditions of the Council in Feofania.

Then, maybe they represented the DECR? Perhaps. Because, for example, the same Bortnyk hardly went abroad for his personal savings, moreover – during the war. That means that the money for the trip was allocated to him, and he was travelling on behalf of, at least, the Department for External Church Relations. Then maybe the leadership of the Department will explain to people what is going on. Let them say that so-and-so, we are negotiating, looking for common ground, so to speak. Then we will realise that the broken jaw in Cherkasy is just such a point. Found, as it were.

I would like to ask the same question to the leadership of the Volyn Eparchy of the UOC. Were the priests who attended the seminar, together with the OCU representatives and the traitors to the Church, authorised by you? If yes, can you say that specifically in your Volyn Eparchy church seizures have stopped? No. You can't. Because they have not stopped. Even one of the participants of that very seminar, Hegumen Nifont, faced an attempted seizure of his temple by OCU members.

Certainly, there is a possibility that these members of the OCU are true Christians who deeply condemn the violence that we widely observe in the Dumenko structure. But the problem is that after such meetings, we have never seen any statements condemning the deception during "transfers" and forceful seizures. We have not seen any appeals to the leadership of the OCU to stop this lawlessness.

Then what is the point of such meetings? To leave all this out of the equation? To pretend that nothing is happening? To declare that we and the OCU are "for all good against all evil"? How does this look to those communities who now have to pray somewhere in a cramped hut, or even just on the street, under a shed?

In any case, everything that is happening is abnormal. And don't label us now as "pro-Moscow" and unwilling to engage in dialogue. We do want it. And even more than all those who drink coffee at meetings with OCU members while others take over our temples. But we want this dialogue to take place with respect for the decisions of our Church Council, following the elementary norms of decency.

This is exactly what the Council of our Church demands: until OCU members stop assaulting the Church, there can be no dialogue with them, and any attempt at dialogue will be perceived as betrayal.