Should a Christian defend shrines?
Shrines are being seized from UOC believers, often with the use of physical force. Should we defend them, and if so, how?
Very often the UOJ tells about the cases of church raiding in Ukraine. Some communities are standing up for their temple, while others are not. Also, almost every day we report on prayer standing at the walls of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, which has been going on for almost a year now. In the spring of 2023, hundreds of UOC parishioners took part in it. Today there are not so many of them. And voices are increasingly heard: why is it needed at all? Can we, believers, change anything? Wouldn't it be better to retreat and give up the shrine? We are convinced that no, it wouldn't be better. Moreover, we are sure that Christians can and should resist the lawlessness that is happening in our country towards the Church. How? To answer this, let's consider several cases of how Christians (our contemporaries) have defended and continue to stand up for their holy places. Let's start with Greece.
"The desecration of the cathedral is an insult to all citizens."
On 4 February 2024, unknown vandals desecrated the cathedral of the Greek Orthodox Church in the city of Larissa, painting its walls with slogans supporting LGBT, same-sex marriage and insults against the Church.
This happened the day before all churches in Greece were to read an encyclical against the law on the legalisation of gay marriage, the adoption of which is currently being discussed by the Greek government.
Pay attention to how believers, secular society and the authorities reacted to the incident.
Just an hour after the incident, several hundred citizens gathered in the temple. In the evening of the same day, they were joined by priests of the diocese and believers from neighbouring settlements. Interestingly, the diocese chose for the title of the meeting the words from the Triodion: " My people, what have I done to you and how have you repaid Me?" (a quote from the 12th antiphon of Great Friday, translated as follows: "Thus says the Lord to the Jews: ‘My people, what have I done to you? How have I offended you? I have let your blind see the light; I have cleansed your lepers; I have raised the man who lay on his bed. My people, what have I done to you and how have you repaid Me? Instead of manna, gall; instead of water, vinegar; instead of loving me you nailed me to the Сross’."). So many people came to the rally that Metropolitan Ieronymos of Larissa and Tyrnavos had to reassure the local authorities: "We are having a peaceful action."
But the authorities themselves did not remain silent.
The first to speak out was the mayor of the city, Thanasis Mamakis: "I express my anger and disgust over the vandalism of the St. Achilleios Basilica. Sick minds offended not just a sacred place, but the entire city and all its residents! No right to freedom of expression can be turned into indecency and insult to our religion, hierarchy and sacred symbols."
Next, regional authorities spoke out. The press service of Thessaly stated: "Protecting public space is the duty of all citizens, as it is a vital element of society and ultimately democracy itself. Cases of vandalism in public places deserve immediate condemnation."
Words of outrage also came from the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Education, who said that "the insult manifested today in the form of vandalism of the St. Achilleios Basilica not only affects religious freedom but also freedom of speech." "Such condemnable actions undermine social cohesion," the official noted.
Furthermore, representatives of other religions did not stand aside. For example, the Jewish community of Larissa expressed "deep sorrow" over the incident because "desecration of public space and especially sacred places of gatherings and prayers is absolutely unacceptable".
As we can see, in Greece, both believers and officials, and even non-believers understand that desecration of sacred places is unacceptable. There can be no democracy and freedom of speech in a country where shrines or a religion are subjected to persecution. Some Greek media even began to demand that laws against "Christianophobia" be adopted in the country – to protect holy places from desecration. At the same time, government representatives believe that vandalism against shrines is a disgrace and insult to all residents of both the city and the country.
Georgia
In this context, we should also recall how the faithful and the Georgian authorities reacted to the desecration of the icon of Blessed Matrona. In January 2024, in Tbilisi, an activist splattered paint on the icon of St Matrona of Moscow. The reason was the depiction of Stalin on it.
The next day, dozens of people protested at the home of Nata Peradze, who poured paint on the icon. Participants of the rally accused Peradze of insulting the icon and declared that "they will do what the state and the law did not do." As a result, the authorities had to intervene, taking the woman's house under protection, and the Tbilisi City Court sentenced her to five days of detention. The icon was cleaned and put in a more prominent place in the cathedral; and later, the Patriarchate demanded that it be repainted. However, the passions did not subside. Because, within a few days, thousands of people took to the streets in protest of the desecration of the Matrona Icon. They demanded that the case on petty hooliganism against the woman be reclassified as a criminal offence.
"We are gathered here with a specific demand, and that demand is justice. We demand punishment for all those who treat our Mother Church in a way that crosses the line," said Zurab Makharadze, the leader of the protest movement at the rally.
It should be noted that anti-Russian sentiments are quite strong in Georgia. Therefore, according to the logic of many Ukrainian "patriots", the reason for the people's outrage is completely incomprehensible: the icon depicts the "Russian" St Matrona of Moscow, and the paint was poured on it because there is the tyrant Joseph Stalin depicted on it. What is wrong, what are Georgians dissatisfied with? Individual voices were also heard in Georgia. However, it is one thing to disagree with someone on this or that issue and quite another thing to insult them. Such things are clearly understood in Georgia. It is for this reason that representatives of the authorities speak in favour of criminal responsibility for the desecration of religious buildings and objects, regardless of their confessional affiliation. The ruling Georgian Dream party stated that there are similar measures in several EU countries.
In other words, any sane person understands that the desecration of shrines – even if something is disliked – is an utterly wild phenomenon that has no place in civilized society.
What about Ukraine?
Why is it not understood in Ukraine? Why do we have an incredible amount of blasphemy, insults, and direct offences directed at the "wrong" Church, as well as at the "wrong" saints and "wrong" believers in our country? Let's remember that after the blatantly blasphemous performance of "Quarter 95", which insulted God, the Bible and Orthodoxy in general, nothing followed. Yes, the blasphemers were sued. And the result? Nothing positive came out of it. But there were negative consequences. For example, a priest in Vinnytsia was slashed with a razor across the throat. Another priest in Cherkasy had his jaw broken. A bishop in Ivano-Frankivsk was punched in the face several times by an activist. And just a few days ago, Metropolitan Longin was brutally beaten. Clearly, we are Christians, and when we are struck on the right cheek, we are supposed to turn the other. It is also evident that we cannot and should not defend our shrines with weapons in hand. But we must do something, right?
For example, the Apostle Paul demanded a trial before Caesar and used all the rights of a Roman citizen. So, we should resort to such measures − legal protection of our holy sites, our churches, our faith and our rights. Our country has a Constitution for that, the existence of which should be reminded to many officials. We Christians have no right to remain silent when our sacred places are insulted. And we must use all lawful means to protect them.
But, first and foremost, we can and must pray. Altogether, jointly. The prayer standing at the walls of the Lavra does not require extraordinary efforts from us – it is enough to come and be with those who are there almost every day. Once a week, once every two weeks - but do it. Especially Kyivites. And the rest of us? It is not so easy now, taking into account the wartime, to come to Kyiv.
Everyone else can also support the Lavra and its brethren through prayer. An example here is Montenegro. There, tens of thousands of people went out for prayer (processions) every day. Then, because of COVID-19, all processions were banned, but people continued to pray. Every day, at a certain time, they read prayers, and they placed lamps in the windows of their homes as a sign of support for the Church. In other words, believers constantly reminded the authorities that "we exist, we are many, and we are the people." What prevents us from doing the same?
In this sense, going to church is an essential duty for each of us. Our presence at the liturgy is a testimony that we are with Christ, that our Church is alive, that we are the Church. And maybe then something will change – in our lives and the life of our country.
