Put your trust in princes? Or Who the Orthodox should vote for
Should a believer participate in the election of President and what should he/she be guided by?
Ukraine is now probably going through one of the most difficult periods in its recent history. The hostilities in the east of the country are taking place during radical changes in the other part of it, changes that affect the revision of both the historical past of our people and its church identification. And against the background of all this, there are elections of the new President of Ukraine.
Open attempts are being made not only to involve church organizations into the political processes that are taking place in the country but also to make them support the course that the current government is pursuing. And the question is not whether this course is good or bad. The EU, a visa-free regime, NATO, the non-aligned status – the Church has nothing to do with all this. It generally should not be the mouthpiece of social and especially political processes.
When a person dies, all these questions instantly cease to be of any interest to them (even to politicians who pursue them), but the posthumous fate of their soul, with whom it will be there, in the other world, becomes immensely important.
And it is precisely this – the spiritual state of the soul of every Christian – that the Church should, more precisely must deal with. And by what people who speak on behalf of the Church call us for, we can now draw conclusions about whether they actually speak on its behalf.
The EU, a visa-free regime, NATO, the non-aligned status – the Church has nothing to do with all this.
In one of his interviews, the head of the UOC, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry said: “Today we are being dragged into the format of a political party so that we are led not by Christ but politicians ... Wearing spiritual clothing, I must take care of the spiritual and do spiritual things. Those who wear cassocks and are actively involved in politics, building geopolitical plans, are simply dishonest people who could not become real politicians but made werewolves of themselves in order to attract human attention to themselves through their spiritual image. These people will have to answer for it before God... The Church cannot live by the standards of worldly life. Secular life, especially political life, is mixed with intrigue, deception, betrayal. A set of all evil. The Church cannot live by such standards, such norms. The Church lives by the commandments of Christ. We have our own methods of combating evil. It is prayer, it is repentance, it is patience, it is humility before God and before each other. It is also a powerful weapon that destroys evil. The priest is called to be a peacemaker, not a politician who separates people.”
Hardly anyone would argue with these words. This is a vivid manifesto of how the Church should relate to politics, how it should coexist with it.
But now, when the elections of the President of Ukraine are taking place, people who wear priestly robes and broadcast on behalf of the Church often say quite different words. But why?
Election campaigning and OCU: before
Long before the first round of the presidential election, the head of the newly-created religious structure (OCU) “Metropolitan” Epiphany Dumenko repeatedly stressed the role of Petro Poroshenko in receiving the Tomos and compared the President with the Equal to the Apostles Prince Vladimir, calling “the church independence” “the second Baptism of Ukraine”. According to Epiphany, it is Petro Poroshenko who possesses exemplary qualities of a leader, whose ability to convince people is considered to be "a certain model".
Other representatives of the "former" UOC KP and the UAOC also repeated that. For example, Makary Maletich called on every Ukrainian to “bow deeply to Mr President”, and “Patriarch” Filaret insisted that Poroshenko’s name should go down in history forever. Some defector "bishops" asserted that the name of the future president of Ukraine is written in the text of the Tomos, while others say that it is the will of God to elect Poroshenko to this position.
On March 31, that is on the day when the first round of voting took place, an entry appeared on the website of the Mukachevo-Carpathian Eparchy of the OCU with the title “For whom to vote on March 31 during the election of the President of Ukraine?” The post was accompanied by a photo of the meeting of the head of the eparchy with the current President.
It also became known that on March 31, when any political agitation was prohibited, the OCU “Metropolitan” Anthony Makhota brought the text of the Tomos to the church so that believers could probably once again see who to vote for.
Election campaigning and OCU: after
Political preferences of the Ukrainian schismatics became clear even more after the first round of presidential elections. Many Internet resources that promote the interests of the OCU have openly and bluntly called on voters to vote for the country's Commander-in-Chief, calling his opponent “a supporter of the UOC MP” and not hesitating to use the lowest and even obscene language.
On April 7, 2019, in Rovno, Dumenko explained to the believers of his organization who they should vote for: “We should not forget that Ukraine is defending itself against external aggression. And we need to choose the Сommander-in-Сhief, who in a state of war will be able to protect our freedom from the encroachments of Russia, will be able to say to the Russian President ‘No!’.” It is hardly worth reminding which of the presidential candidates is building his campaign around a similar topic.
However, if the head of the OCU only hints at how to vote, the “bishops” of this Church are more outspoken. The OCU “bishop” Adrian Kulik-Bogdan stated that all who voted not for Petro Poroshenko but for Vladimir Zelensky are “little Russians, Ukes, and outright idiots”.
Alexander Dediukhin, a man who calls himself a “priest” of the OCU, is openly campaigning for one of the candidates: “I choose Poroshenko”.
All who voted not for Petro Poroshenko but for Vladimir Zelensky are “little Russians, Ukes, and outright idiots”.
OCU "Bishop" Adrian Kulik-Bogdan
A few days earlier Dediukhin turned to Zelensky demanding that he apologize for "insulting the feelings of millions of believers of Ukraine", calling the Tomos a "thermos". Explaining his position on the issue, Dediukhin was no longer shy in words and expressions. His posts on Facebook are so clearly permeated with aggression and malice and are so far removed from Christianity that it is simply inconceivable to imagine that they were written by a person who calls himself a priest:
“I will just continue to despise him. For plagiarism and cowardice. For the lack of a sense of humour. For stupidity. And much more. Well, in principle, my feelings for him will be the same as now. Also on confessions, I will listen to the repentance of Ze's fans for voting for him. Why on a first-name basis? Yes, I'm on a first-name basis with God, let alone the third-rate buffoon".
Did Zelensky do anything wrong to Dediukhin? According to the OCU “cleric”, yes, he did when his character misspoke and said the word “thermos” instead of “Tomos”. Is it enough for a person who calls himself a priest to use hate speech and incite aggression, using such words as "chickenshit", "coward", "drug addict" and so on? And can such a person be a spiritual guide for Christians if Christ and the Gospel teach us the exact opposite? Does the priest have the right to speak on behalf of God, declaring that His will is the victory of Poroshenko? Hardly.
No one can know the posthumous fate. Neither his/her own, nor others’. We can only hope for the mercy of God.
But not the “priests” of the OCU / UOC KP. One of the clerics of the St. Vladimir Cathedral of the UOC KP Petro Zinich promised hell to all those who would vote for Zelensky: “All who would vote for the clown Zelensky will burn in hell. Amen and glory to God!”
Election campaigning and UGCC
Even more active in the field of political campaigning for the current President were the hierarchs and clergy of the UGCC. As blogger Alexander Voznesensky rightly noted: “A number of priests, prominent figures and even bishops write entries in the style of "if you voted for Zelensky, defriend". Imagine for a moment that a pastor pushes people away from himself and from Christ for the sake of politics! But this is a fact, and it is happening on a large scale.”
Similar posts on their Facebook pages were posted by the bishop of the UGCC Petro Krik, the hieromonk Justin Boyko, the Chief Editor of the Uniate resource “Religious Information Service of Ukraine” Taras Antoshevsky. The latter, by the way, also said that Zelensky is “a choice for petty thugs.” Such rhetoric with regard to its fellow citizens who have other political views is not surprising for representatives of the UGCC. But how much can it be related to Christianity?
Now it is quite obvious that denominations that were favoured by the present authorities are selflessly campaigning for this very power. And besides, the authorities require to pay the same coin for their affection with votes.
Oksana Syroid, deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, said that the Presidential Administration obliges the representatives of the OCU to campaign for Petro Poroshenko: “I’ve learned today that, as it turned out, the Presidential Administration is calling churches and instructing how to pray correctly so that the current President will win the election.”
What UOC believers should do
But what should the believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, who also live in Ukraine and elect the president of their country, do with all this?
Many were quick to conclude that since those who oppose the UOC are vehemently criticizing Vladimir Zelensky and those who voted for him, it is he who should be supported.
However, we have to disappoint them. As it turned out, Zelensky’s office believes that it is necessary to continue the policy of supporting the OCU, which Petro Poroshenko started. In addition, it turned out that Zelensky’s team includes Sviatoslav Yurash, a son of Andrei Yurash, the director of the Department for Religious Affairs of the Ministry of Culture, who has been leading (quite successfully, we should say) a systematic struggle against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
What does this mean?
This means that an Orthodox Christian should rely neither on politicians nor ideology, naively hoping that their interests and the interests of the Church can coincide somewhere. In any case, only the politician will win.
Worldly wisdom says that we should not be illusioned not be disillusioned later. The psalmist David says even more precisely: “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save” (Ps. 145, 3).
In the history of the Church of Christ, there have been various periods. There has been complete support of the authorities, there have been times of overt persecution, and it is not yet known what is worse or better for the Church.
“We have our own methods of combating evil. It is prayer, it is repentance, it is patience, it is humility before God and before each other.”
His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry
People on earth have always tried to build an ideal society in which to live comfortably and happily. But each time they saw this ideal in different ways. Some built communism, others – Nazism, some people tried to build empires and subjugate others. And based on this, they chose their own rulers.
Now Ukrainians, including Orthodox Christians, are electing a new President for themselves. Should we, Orthodox Christians, fulfil our civic duty? Of course, we must vote. Vote for the one who, in our opinion, will bring more benefit to our long-suffering Motherland. But when making our choice, we should not “get attached with all your heart”, advocating for “our” candidate and especially rely on the fact that he will consciously help the Church. He won’t.
The Church does not need it. Its task is not to campaign for a candidate, not to advocate for "the war to the bitter end" or entry into NATO. Its goal is to prepare us for a completely different society, which is in Heavenly Jerusalem. And our main choice is not the fight against Poroshenko or Zelensky, our choice is the fight against dirt in our own soul. And if we make it, we will benefit both ourselves and those who are breaking their spears, hoping to build a perfect (in their own way) society here on earth. And here, more than ever, the words of St. Seraphim sound appropriate: “Save yourself, and thousands will be saved around you”.
