Abominable Fake of the Kiev Patriarchate

I’d like to spell out one simple manipulation, which is now actively spread at large.

Yesterday, a number of domestic sites reported that a Ukrainian army officer, who before going to the ATO zone came to pray at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, was advised by a priest to deploy troops to Kiev.

As the relevant editions indicated, the source of this "information" appears to be a military chaplain of the so-called Kyiv Patriarchate, Konstantin Kholodov.

Let's look into the matter. Unemotionally and step-by-step.

Firstly, the above mentioned information is not originally perceived as objective because it is spread by a representative of the Kiev Patriarchate against, roughly speaking, the main "opponents" of his religious organization - the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Secondly, we cannot rule out the deliberate distortion of the situation, even making it up, because in the fight with opponents, hardly everyone can keep themselves from playing unfair and dirty game.

Evident details speak in favor of this thesis. There is no clear indication of the name of the officer of the AFU, but it is not most striking. The following remark by Konstantin Kholodov figuratively screams about provocation and cover for deliberate falsehood: "It is a pity that the military man did not ask for the name of the priest."

The fact that there is no information about the priest speaks for itself: it makes it difficult to verify the truthfulness of what is going on. But it didn’t stop the chaplain of the Kiev Patriarchate from sweeping generalization that in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, as well as in the Moscow Patriarchate, all are separatists.

Undoubtedly. Cut-and-dried. Categorically. And this is how labels are put and stereotypes about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are made. Not only them.

Likewise the reputation of a man who puts himself in a bad light is built up.

What makes me talk about it?

A recent case, which occurred to Konstantin Kholodov, who was accused of, let's say, the dissemination of false information.

He turns out to have once written a similar lie (which suggests that the recent case with the AFU officer is a fake).

What happened then?

On May 9, on his page in Facebook, Konstantin Kholodov wrote that in the village of Vilkha, Rivne region, a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church supposedly refused to pray for the health of his fellow villager, a soldier.

A quote: "By the way, the priest’s name is Peter. The surname I failed to find out. But the question is not the names, you know ... "

Does this ring any bells?

Again, as in the above described case, "the unknown priest" and "an unidentified soldier", who tells a "terrible truth", are featured.

And, of course, again all is seasoned with important maxims of the UOC as "anti-Ukrainian organization".

The provocation would have been promoted in most favorable way if the representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church hadn’t not checked the information.

It turned out that in the village of Vilkha, as well as in the whole district, to which the village belongs, there is no priest with such a name.

So what? A few months ago, they told me that Konstantin Kholodov’s response to this investigation was quite common, in the " It may sound low but I’ve heard it so" way. If this is true, then, as they say, no comment. On either the previous case, or a new "incident".

If, however, we proceed from the fact that we face another clumsy manipulation, let's try to think what it was directed at.

To sum it up:

1) To add another "brick" to the campaign on discrediting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the eyes of the Ukrainian Army and the Ukrainian authorities.

2) To get across another "solid argument" to the Ukrainian authorities on the need to make tough decisions against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church ("Your High Excellency, look out, they set the army on you!")

3) To suggest policy makers what one of those decisions could be ("You see, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is full of separatists! Hand it to the right denomination which is patriotic!").

There is one more conclusion inspired by another story.

Against the background of these exposed fakes it becomes clear why the so-called unification of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church failed.

The more boomerangs with unseemly consequences one starts outside, the harder blow this person and his work may receive in return.

As a man sows, so he shall reap. Only hundredfold.

Source: http://blogs.korrespondent.net/blog/politics/3537771/

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