Very Rev. Ihor Kutash kutash@unicorne.org

There are some groups, including the Moscow Patriarchate, that seem to vehemently oppose the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate. Why is the KP being persecuted? This is a question I have been asked recently.

I am a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada and I sympathize wholeheartedly with the Kyivan Patriarchate.  In fact the Church in my parents' village is with this Patriarchate and I am very proud of these people.  It is unfortunate that the canonical problems have not yet been resolved. 

Alas, the only way an autocephalist Church could arise in Ukraine was by breaking with the hierarchy to whom its people were canonically bound.  Breaking with brethren, declaration of "independence" is not the normal way things ought to be done in the Body of Christ.  But we are living in a fallen world, and the Church is divine and human - and so goes through the travails of sinful humanity.  Often one must choose not between good and evil but between the lesser of evils.  It is not the same as the good, but it does seem to be the lesser of evils.

Thus the Kyivan Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in Ukraine are naturally our choices for support in Ukraine.

We must also recognize that there are good and true Ukrainian Orthodox people that are still in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that remains in the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.  We must not allow party-spirit to cloud our perception of the value of persons and the choices they make.

I must say, however, that I am of the firm opinion that Ukrainian Orthodox folk outside of Ukraine, particularly in North and South America and the Austrialian and Western European diaspora ought to keep fellowship with the Ukrainian Orthodox formations in these countries.  They are decidedly pro-Ukraine, pro-Ukrainian sovereignty, pro-Ukrainian-Orthodox autocephaly - definitely not pro-Moscow!  (I realize this is a generalization and all generalizations are to some extent inaccurate - but in my experience it is an eminently good assessment of the situation).

They are in the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and through him in communion  with the rest of canonical Orthodoxy.  And the Patriarchate of Constantinople is bound to recognize the Patriarchate of Moscow and his jurisdiction over Ukraine - but it is most definitely a nuanced, qualified recognition and the current Patriarch has shown himself to be open to the recognition of a special status for the autocephalist bodies in Ukraine - if they would only come together.  I believe they shall in time.

Patient prayer, uprooting of animosity and hostility within our own hearts, surrender of all this to the Lord, and vigilance in seeing  what we may constructively do to bring about the just and right Church situation in Ukraine - these ought to be the order of the day for all Ukrainian Orthodox, and indeed for all Christian and all people of good will.

If the Kyivan Patriarchate is indeed being persecuted we should take comfort in the Beatitudes in which our Lord says that those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake are blessed and ought to literally leap for joy!  Alas we are all too often persecuted for because we have been somewhat less than righteous - and it is such a temptation for those who have been persecuted to persecute in turn.  None of us are immune to such temptations.