UOC Chancellor comments on National Security and Defense Council sanctions

Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich). Photo: Vladyka's Facebook page

Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary, the UOC Chancellor, reacted to the sanctions imposed against him and reminded the believers that the powers that be would repeatedly try to destroy the Orthodox faith, but were unable to do anything.

“Each generation of our God-loving people is called to bear witness to loyalty to our Christ the Savior and His Holy Church, even when it seems unpopular and even dangerous,” Vladyka added.

Metropolitan Anthony cited as an example the words of St. John Chrysostom that when people want to fight God, they do it through fighting with His servants, thinking that by such actions they will defeat God himself, not realizing that it is impossible to fight God.

“Whoever tried to do this always got defeated themselves. So, clergymen and faithful servants of God can be slandered, they can be planted some compromising leaflets, and today – any information into a computer. Numerous fakes can be created in order to publicly ridicule, restrict rights or even condemn and shoot, quarter, hang, crucify, drown. So it was under Nero in the 1st century, so it was under Diocletian in the 4th century, so it was under Lenin, Stalin, Jerzy at the beginning of the 20th century. Unfortunately, we are witnessing similar emerging manifestations at the beginning of the 21st century, to the applause and delight of those who call themselves not just a Christian, but an Orthodox Christian, but at the same time fight the Church,” said the hierarch of the UOC.

He explained the purpose of such actions: “First, to compromise the Church and its ministers, so that public opinion would be completely opposed to the canonical Church, and no one would even think of defending it. And then it will be possible to calmly seize its churches and monasteries, remove the parish and diocesan administrations from registration.”

According to the hierarch, although “the project of such actions seems attractive and realistic to secular political experts and non-religious politicians, it is utopian and indicates that these political experts are completely unaware of church history and do not feel the essence of church life.”

“The people know their shepherds not from television or Internet messages, but from real deeds. It is possible to deceive people who do not go to church, but judge us only through the media. But church people who live by the grace of the Spirit of God, who are the bearers of the Church Tradition, cannot be turned so easily from the true path,” the UOC Chancellor emphasized.

Metropolitan Anthony recalled that every true Christian, regardless of rank and position, lives by the motto that the holy Apostle Paul once said: “For me, life is Christ, and death is gain.”

“Therefore, one, two, three priests or bishops can be imprisoned or even killed, but dozens of new ones will appear in their place. One can take away, close the churches of the canonical Church or transfer them to another structure, but Christians who have tasted the sweetness of the truth and love of Christ will not go there. They will rather pray in basements, apartments or garages. This was proven by history, so it will happen today,” Vladyka assured.

Addressing the flock, the Metropolitan emphasized, “All of us, dear brothers and sisters, are going through very difficult times, defined in one word – war, aggression. Everyone needs a concentration of spiritual and physical strength in order to survive and win, but the most important thing is that we all, regardless of confession or political preferences, must be united.”

As the metropolitan explained, the multi-million flock of the UOC can hardly understand why decisions are being made today that do not exactly unite, but on the contrary, tear our Ukrainian society apart.

“I mean, first of all, the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of December 1 of this year and the new bills submitted the other day to the Verkhovna Rada, as well as the lists of clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church against whom sanctions were applied,” the hierarch specified.

According to Vladyka, for him, as for a person whose name is also included in this list, this phenomenon has two dimensions.

“Firstly, it is a spiritual, I would even say a sacramental dimension. Since we are talking about the assessment of my activity as a clergyman of the Church of Christ, for whom the preservation of its canonical structure is important, I am grateful to God that he has added me to those, about whom the Lord said, 'Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven'."

Here everyone must understand that for the Christian consciousness there can be no equal sign between truth and falsehood. Black will never become white, no matter how much you say it is. Schism as a phenomenon for church life cannot be the norm. The norm is the canonical foundation that preserves the unity of universal Orthodoxy. We can be silent when we are defiled, attributing certain shortcomings or weaknesses every person has as a bearer of sinful damage, but when it comes to God, Truth and the Church of Christ, there can be no compromise. The second dimension for us as those included in the sanctions list has a purely earthly meaning. All of us, citizens of a democratic country, are protected by the Constitution of Ukraine and the entire body of its laws. I am not a lawyer, but I know that a democratic state does not impose sanctions against its citizens. Therefore, we all have the right to seek not only God's truth, but also human truth, although we understand how ephemeral our hopes are.

In conclusion, Metropolitan Anthony assured everyone: “Because of the sanctions, we will not love our Motherland less, this is the land of our ancestors and we will do everything so that it flourishes, and the Ukrainian people live in peace and love for God and neighbor. Understanding the greatness and complexity of this task, as well as the weakness of my human strength, I am asking you, dear brothers and sisters, for holy prayers. Now the main thing is not to be afraid, but to boldly ask God for His all-powerful help and the grace of the Spirit of God, before which the spirit of wickedness under the heavens cannot withstand.

Recall that on December 11, Zelenskyy imposed sanctions against the Chancellor and six other hierarchs of the UOC.

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