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Archbishop injured as Ukrainians attack cathedral (VIDEO)
Footage from the scene has emerged of Metropolitan Theodosius being hit in the head with a stick
Around a hundred men in military fatigues clashed with believers at St. Michael’s Cathedral, which belongs to the UOC, in the city of Cherkasy. The raiders reportedly used tear gas, smoke grenades and fired a gas pistol into the crowd. Icons, documents and some $60,000 raised by the congregation for the needs of the church were said to have been stolen.
The press service of the Cherkasy diocese of the UOC said in a statement on Telegram on Saturday that the attack had been carried out by “supporters of the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU),” which is backed by the Kiev government.
The flock repelled the first attempt to storm the church, but the raiders were able to gain control of the place of worship on their second try, it noted.
Dozens of Orthodox believers were wounded in the standoff, with 12 of them requiring hospitalization, the statement read. Among them was the head of the diocese Metropolitan Theodosius, it added.
The archbishop was “diagnosed with a concussion, first-degree burns of the cornea of both eyes and skin burns,” the diocese said.
The hierarch’s headdress had a visible dent in it when was addressing parishioners later on Thursday. The blow appeared to have been so strong that it bent the decorative cross on it.
“We are going to our homes, to attics and cellars. We will be praying and conducting services underground, if our temples are taken away from us,” Metropolitan Theodosius told the believers at the time.
Ukraine has been gripped by religious tensions for years, with two rivals claiming to be the country’s true Orthodox Church.
Kiev supports the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which was established in 2018 and which the Russian Orthodox Church considers schismatic.
Zelensky has explained the moves against the UOC by citing its alleged links to the Moscow Patriarchate and the need to protect Ukraine’s “spiritual independence” and deprive Russia of an opportunity to “to manipulate the spirituality of our people.”
The persecution of the UOC intensified after the outbreak of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022.
- Several of its churches have been seized by force, and criminal cases have been opened against clerics.
- A law banning the activities of the UOC in Ukraine officially came into force in late September.
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We demand to stop systematic persecution of the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church by Kiev authorities
On March 27, 2023, Archbishop during his meeting with a church delegation in Jerusalem: “We resolutely condemn the systematic harassment and persecutions against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church organized by the Kiev authorities, who, as we know, are implementing western programs hostile to the entire Orthodox Church. These programs run contrary to her values and mission and threaten her very existence.”
The publication about this meeting quotes the Archbishop as saying: ‘We consider the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as the persecution of the entire Church, since at the moment there remains a threat of evicting bishops, priests and monks from the Lavra in Kiev, this ancient historical monument well-known as one of the largest monasteries of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.”
“The Ukrainian Orthodox Church headed by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry is subjected to systematic hostile campaigns with many threats and assaults,” Archbishop Theodosius noted, pointing out that “her message has always been to preserve love, brotherhood and peace.”
Archbishop Theodosius underscored:
“We demand urgent actions from the entire Orthodox community for stopping these severe persecutions. His Beatitude Onufry is a holy man of God. He visited us in Jerusalem several times. He is notable for his particular humility, spirituality and wisdom. He is being guided by these principles now, at the darkest hour and under the most difficult circumstances in the historical monuments of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. We express our support to all religious leaders who have spoken about the necessity of putting an end to the persecution of the UOC.”
The hierarch expressed his hope that such statements “would become a strong deterrent for the Kiev authorities whose actions towards the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are hostile and who resort to incitement, thus carrying out the instructions of their masters.”
He continued to say:
“We state that we do not recognize legitimacy of any other organization created in Ukraine to replace the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and call on the entire Christian and civilized world to exert all possible efforts to stop systematic persecution of the UOC.”
Archbishop Theodosius of Sebastia has warned against the danger of violation that the authorities could use for the eviction of monks from their monasteries, scetes, and churches.
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