About second-class people, or why UOC cross processions are prohibited

Unlike Hasidic pilgrimages, Orthodox processions are not allowed in Ukraine. Photo: UOJ

Every year, for almost 200 years, on August 19, a religious procession departs from Kamyanets-Podilsky (Khmelnytsky region) to the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra. However, on July 21, 2023, it was announced that the Defense Council of the Khmelnytsky region had prohibited mass religious events from August 19 to 25, 2023, in particular, this traditional cross procession.

The mayor of the city, Mykhailo Positko, stated during an extended meeting that holding a religious procession was "unacceptable. According to him, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is taking "a series of measures to prevent mass events." He stressed that “we must do everything possible so that this (the procession – Ed.) does not happen. And there is information that despite the ban, such a provocative action is still being planned. I think it's a provocation."

Meanwhile, the Uniates freely hold their "farewells" and other mass events, Catholics hold cross processions, and Yelenky announced that Ukraine is ready to receive 30,000 Hasidic pilgrims in Uman. This is despite the fact that the mayor of Uman openly states that the city cannot ensure their safety in the event of shelling. So what's happening? Why is what is categorically prohibited for some allowed for others?

Prohibitions on Pilgrimage for the UOC

The tradition of the cross procession from Kamyanets-Podilsky to Pochaiv is linked to the healing of a blind girl named Anna Akimchuk before the Pochaiv Icon of the Mother of God. In memory of this event, the sacred archimandrite of the monastery, Archbishop Innocent, established weekly collective readings of the Akathist before the miraculous icon. Each year, pilgrims walk with prayers on their lips along the path of little Anya and her grandmother. They walked during the war with the Nazis from 1941 to 1945, and they walked during the godless Soviet times. All attempts by the Bolsheviks to ban the Pochaiv cross procession were unsuccessful: devout people found alternate routes, formed small groups, and often performed their pilgrimage and prayerful feats at night.

And now, after 30 years of Ukraine's independence, the authorities, who verbally distance themselves from the Bolsheviks, are engaging in the same actions. This is not just happening this year; they have attempted this before. In 2022, the authorities also opposed the cross procession, but they did not create any serious obstacles to its conduct.

Today, everything is different: several police units are constantly stationed on the territory of the Kamyanets-Podilsky Cathedral, and near the entrances to the church, members of the Territorial Recruitment Centers (military recruitment offices) stand, distributing summonses to men intending to participate in the Pochaiv procession. Additionally, the police have started to block buses on the highway that transport pilgrims to Kamyanets, intending to participate in the cross procession. For example, a bus from Rivne was stopped by the police and the SBU, the driver's license was confiscated, and the bus was escorted out of the Khmelnytsky region.

The police and SBU agents also "caught" about a dozen believing women in the fields in the Vinnytsia region and dispersed them. According to eyewitnesses, the Security Service officer behaved very rudely with the women, shouting that they were going to "the Moscow priest." He took down the personal information of the cross walkers and warned that if they didn't return home and were caught by him again, they would face "big problems."

Slightly earlier, the authorities forced the cancellation of the procession in the Chernivtsi eparchy. And all these cases merge into a single continuous totalitarian ban.

Who can make a pilgrimage: Uniates

Officials cynically explain their decisions to ban marches with “concern” for the processionists, claiming they want to “ensure their safety” (for example, this is what the document of the Defense Council of the Khmelnytsky region says).

And perhaps there would be people who believed in this, if not for one "but" - the large number of processions, pilgrimages, and other mass events organized by representatives of the UGCC. Here are just a few of them:

1. August 18, 2023: A pilgrimage in Kyiv is organized to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the consecration of the Patriarchal Cathedral of the UGCC.
2. July 7, 2023: A pilgrimage to the Ulashkiv Monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Ternopil region).
3. June 26, 2023: The head of the UGCC, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, led the liturgy of the All-Ukrainian pilgrimage in Stradch.
4. June 24, 2023: Uniate Bishop Bohdan Manyshyn participated in a pilgrimage to Bylych.
5. June 18, 2023: Volunteer pilgrimage of the Charitable Foundation of the UGCC "Rodnia" in Unev.
6. June 10, 2023: Pilgrimage to the icon of the Mother of God on Yasna Hora in Hoshiv.
7. May 30, 2023: Schoolchildren and educators from Novyi Rozdil went on a pilgrimage to Borynychi.
8. May 28, 2023: Parishioners of the Pnyvsk deanery of the Kolomyia Eparchy of the UGCC participated in the All-Ukrainian pilgrimage of Marian and altar fraternities.
9. May 27, 2023: An All-Ukrainian pilgrimage for children was held in Zarvanytsia.
10. May 21, 2023: A pilgrimage from Stryi to Yasna Hora in Hoshiv took place.
11. February 25, 2023: VIII All-Church Pilgrimage of the UGCC Monasticism.

You'll agree that the bans on UOC believers' processions look, to put it mildly, very strange against this backdrop. But the situation becomes even more cynical with the fact that our authorities, by restricting their citizens' free movement within the country, do everything to ensure a "worthy pilgrimage" for the 30,000 Hasidic pilgrims who come to Uman to celebrate their New Year.

Who exactly can make pilgrimage: Hasidic Jews

On August 16, 2023, the State Ethnopolitics held a session, during which it addressed the issue of the Hasidic pilgrimage to Uman for the Jewish New Year.

In the officials' statement from DESS, there are several interesting details. For instance, they mention that "despite strong recommendations to the pilgrims to refrain from traveling to Uman due to the ongoing war, regular heavy shelling of our country, and possible provocations from Russia, the Hasidic Jews perceive this journey as their religious duty."

In other words, the Hasidic pilgrims were "recommended" to refrain from pilgrimage, rather than being prohibited from entering the country. Logically, for safety reasons, one would expect such a prohibition. After all, the mayor of Uman, I. Pletneva, explicitly stated that ensuring the safety of 30,000 people in a small town against possible rocket attacks is "practically impossible" due to the lack of sufficient shelters.

However, this did not trouble Yelensky. The State Ethnopolitics Service conveyed to the Uman authorities that they have "significant expertise in organizing pilgrimages," where they resolved "seemingly unsolvable issues." Hence, they were encouraged to proceed.

Why can Hasidic Jews conduct their rituals while Orthodox Christians cannot? And why is pilgrimage for Hasidic Jews deemed a "religious duty" by the authorities, while no such language is used for the UOC? It's because prohibiting the pilgrimage of Jews would violate fundamental human rights and freedoms. Understand?

But prohibiting the pilgrimage of Orthodox Christians is evidently not seen in the same light. At least, that's what plain logic tells us.

The authorities promised to create "worthy conditions for expressing their religious feelings" for the Hasidic Jews. And what about the Orthodox Christians? Where are their conditions?

No one is creating any "worthy conditions" for the UOC believers. On the contrary, they are humiliated, insulted, and beaten. The authorities prevent them from moving around the country, and for breaking this prohibition, they threaten punishment and "problems." What is happening? Why is there such unequal treatment towards Uniates and Hasidic Jews on one hand, and Christians on the other?

Why the UOC is not allowed to pilgrimage

To provide a precise answer to this question, one would need clear information. Therefore, let's make an assumption.

In Ukraine, there is a large-scale campaign aimed at prohibiting the UOC. It's evident that such a prohibition would cause both outrage among the believers in our country and confusion among officials of the European Union. In Europe, they won't be able to comprehend such actions, as they respect human rights and freedoms, which means they would raise uncomfortable questions for the Ukrainian government.

Hence, the task for domestic officials is to convince their Western counterparts that the UOC has a small number of followers, that our Church is supported by an insignificant minority, and these individuals are affiliated with the aggressor state. A multi-thousand-strong cross procession, which confirms one simple fact – the people of Ukraine are connected to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – doesn't fit into this task. For instance, last year, despite the state of war, several thousand people participated in the cross procession from Kamyanets to Pochaiv. After witnessing this, it becomes very inconvenient to claim that the UOC lacks popularity among the people and that the prohibition of the UOC is demanded by Ukrainian citizens.

But there is another reason as well.

The True Church has always been persecuted. The history of the Church is a history of persecutions, where Christians were killed, imprisoned, and exiled. In the Roman Empire, Christians were considered people devoid of any rights. Being a Christian back then meant giving up state protection, becoming an outcast in society, a being of the lowest order. And it seems that we have returned to the past.

Christians in Ukraine are the lowest category of people. Apparently, the Constitution does not apply to them, and their rights and freedoms cannot be guaranteed. We live in a situation where "we have been made a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men… we have become as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things, until now" (1 Corinthians 4:9-13). On the one hand, this is unfortunate, as it should not be the case in a civilized and democratic society.

But on the other hand, glory be to God for everything! Especially for the time of feats and martyrdom. The history of the Church is being written before our eyes, and who knows how many future saints we personally know?

Read also