The religious situation in Ukraine.

There are five dioceses of Moscow Patriarchate in Donetsk and Luhansk regions and more than 1,100 temples and 17 monasteries that belong to those dioceses.

“I will build my Сhurch; and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

As a result of almost non-stop fighting that goes on in those regions, 9 temples of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were completely destroyed and more than 77 temples damaged.

It is painful to state, that not only the military troops, but also innocent civilians and the peaceful clergy of Our Church become the victims of the war that started last year in the eastern Ukraine. There were cases when the shells fell in the church during the Divine Services, killing and hurting the worshipers. 3 priests – Archpriest Paul Zhuchenko, Archpriest Vladimir Kreslyansky, Priest George Nikishov – of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have already been killed in the fire zones of those regions under bombardments. In addition to the disasters that afflict all of the civilian population of the battle sector, our clergy is repeatedly subjected to the unlawful detentions and arrests, often being beaten and interrogated with violence, by the nationalist and extremist groups. In the areas of the active actions of the most aggressive nationalist groups, there were recorded the incidents of vandalism and arson of our churches.

In an enormous effort to put an end to the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine, the Russian Orthodox Church tirelessly urges the opposing parties to start the peace dialogue. But the peace cannot be attained, if the motives for injustices and discrimination on language, national or religious basis are not addressed and eradicated.

This all was discussed during my meeting with Mr. Peter Goldring – the deputy of the House of Commons of Canada. The meeting itself took place according to the initiative of Mr. Goldring and was held first in the office of the deputy in Edmonton and then in the refectory of the Cathedral of Saint Barbara in the capital of Alberta.

The Canadian deputy shared his impressions from his multiple trips to the Ukraine.

During these interviews, Mr. Goldring expressed his great concern about the unstable situation in Ukraine. I and Father Sergey informed him about the peace efforts of the Russian Orthodox Church and Patriarch Kirill for stabilizing the situation in Ukraine. The Patriarch and the clergy of Our Church use every opportunity in order to bring to the attention of the world community the real picture of what is going on in Ukraine now and in order to draw everyone’s attention to the plight of its people.

In August 2014, Patriarch Kirill sent a letter to the Local Orthodox Churches on this issue, in which he described the harassments that the Orthodox clergy and faithful people undergo – and not only in the warfare zone, but also in the rest of the territory of Ukraine. The aforesaid letter aroused a sympathetic response from the Heads of the local Orthodox Churches, many of whom expressed their support and grief about the sufferings of the Ukrainian Orthodox population. Such letters were also sent to a number of various international organizations. Our Patriarch considers it absolutely crucial at this point to convey the position of the Russian Orthodox Church in relation to the events in Ukraine to the widest range of the world community through preaching, public speaking, as well as through the work of various religious, political and social organizations.

Unfortunately, in this complex political situation schismatic organizations – especially the representatives of so-called “Philaret’s split” – are trying to pursue their own advantages. Last year alone the church dissenters unlawfully seized by force at least 18 churches in Rovno, Vinnytsia, Ternopil, Lviv and other areas. It should be noted that there were many more unsuccessful attempts to capture the temples, which reflect not only the persistence of the dissenters, but also the courage and firmness of the faithful Orthodox believers in Ukraine.

Trials and tribulations of the Church bishops, clergy and all Orthodox people, trapped in the war zone, evoke a compassionate response in the hearts of the clergy and faithful people of all Russian Orthodox Church. Almost immediately Moscow Patriarchy started to provide humanitarian assistance to the suffering civilians of the armed conflict zone and to the refugees, whose number exceeds one million.

I especially want to thank those clergy and laity who pray for the peace in Ukraine and who assisted the distress civilians in Ukraine by collecting money, medicine and things of the first necessity for those who were wounded and /or lost their houses. I entreat you in the future to continue being compassionate and merciful to all our suffering brothers and sisters in Christ.

Bishop Iov