Ukrainian president favorable toward Moscow church WILL POROSHENKO BE ABLE TO CONQUER RUSSIAN ORTHODOXY IN HIMSELF On the answer to this question depends largely not only the development of the country but also its integrity by Ekaterina Shchetkina RISU, 19 June 2014 News media close to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have already rushed to inform the public that the elections of the president and mayor of the capital were won by parishioners of UPTs, proponents of the course of Metropolitan Vladimir for autonomy, and also for church unity. Of course, all this is a collection of stamps. But they are designed, on one hand, to give the new government a good appearance, and on the other hand, to hint to it what is expected of it on the other side of the churchs threshold. That is to say, to declare to the city and world that this is our government. And that is true. At least as regards Petro Poroshenko. He is the next—second in a row—Moscow Orthodox president and church benefactor and such in our history. Unlike the preceding Orthodox president, he does not boast about Athos souvenirs and he does not appeal to prophecies of elders. But that is where the differences end. Petro Poroshenko, just like his predecessor, is a demonstrative church goer in the UPTsMP. Similarly he loves to pose with bishops and with icons arrayed and in vestments. He is always ready to intervene in church affairs, not only to protect but also to insist upon the true path, as happened in the election of the locum tenens of the Kiev see. In general, there is no hope that during his presidency the fashion of displaying his churchiness and the tradition of creating insane cocktails of spirituality, that mix in various proportions politics, ideology, and the interests of various church groups, will dry up. It is also interesting that Poroshenko is not simply a UPTsMP parishioner. UPTsMP is different in different parishes. But the new president is Orthodox of the type of the Saint Jonah Holy Trinity monastery. It is famous, in the first place, for its russophilia, and in the second place for its ability to work with the right people. I recall that this monastery conducted active propaganda for an Orthodox president in both of Yanukovichs campaigns, in 2004 and 2009. No matter how much the Kiev metropolia declares its nonintervention in elections and how much it condemns political Orthodoxy, the leadership of St. Jonahs has never suffered. On the contrary, the St. Jonahs monastery has been considered a model for a long time: it works actively with and knows how to befriend the right people. Quite sufficiently so as to forgive some pranks and some extreme commitment to dubious doctrines. It is said that Petro Poroshenko suffered from russophilia and he managed to recover from it. It remains for us to hope that in the process he has developed an immunity. Because a serious attitude toward his own churchiness, raised to the level of governing authority, could play a bad joke on him. As it happened to his predecessor and to others who are less notable representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian establishments. Alas, there is still no basis to assume that Poroshenko has renounced the idea of actively building a church policy. That is, church policy will get a splendid opportunity to build him. Incidentally, there is a curious detail: for some reason a well known protector of the interests of the Moscow patriarch in Ukraine arises suspiciously often at Poroshenkos right hand in all church initiatives—he is Andrei Derkach. And really is anybody surprised that the first Russian to congratulate Petro Poroshenko on his victory was Patriarch Kirill? Even before any official announcement of the results. And while the reaction of the Kremlin clearly pointed to the fact that the Ukrainians choice was welcomed there, there can be no doubt that the choice of Poroshenko was a colossal gift to Patriarch Kirill personally. T hat the patriarch of Moscow was pleased is reflected in his letter. Not merely in the haste, but both in its tone and in its contents. The patriarch is still not completely sure of his influence on the new Ukrainian leader. Indeed, after all that has happened what Russian could be sure of anything Ukrainian? Therefore in the letter he is dry, austere, restrained, but at the same time he is demonstratively making a first and extremely lively step toward dialogue. He desperately needs this dialogue. He personally, and then Putin, the Kremlin, Gasprom, and Gunvor. It has become necessary for him to return Ukraine to the sphere of his influence. Because otherwise his influence will drop to zero with frightening speed in the political field of Russia. In offering himself as a peacemaker and negotiator the patriarch is addressing not so much Poroshenko as Putin. Who must think hard about how to get out of the Ukrainian gambit without losing face. The question is, how will Poroshenko take that signal? At this time, Ukraine has a very strained relationship with RPTs. Some of its bishops—including, according to rumors, even the patriarch of Moscow himself—have fallen onto the list of persons who are forbidden entrance into Ukraine. Our country has paid too dearly, and it continues to pay, for the patriarchs Russian World project. In Ukraine, there are too many—including even those who voted for Petro Poroshenko—who are extremely annoyed with the patriarch of Moscow, the RPTs, and the Russian enclaves in Ukraine that are working under church protection. Does the patriarch of Moscow understand this? Judging from the letter, no. He does not doubt the correctness of the Russian doctrine of the federalization of Ukraine. He does not hide the fact that he does not intend to renounce the Russian World. And of course, he does not intend to apologize. Not for anything. Not for his power by which he has symphony, nor even for his media clowns who in the past six months have slung mud on the Ukrainian brothers in Christ, sowing hatred and supporting hysteria among the Russian flock. However, it is not only he who does not intend to change anything in his conduct. This same tendency is noted also in UPTsMP. The most important thing is that they had to inform the public that their little father has taken the ballot box by storm and that their man is again in power. That means, again they will not touch, and they will not take offense. It is possible to live as was done before. It is possible to approve with restrained confidence the actions of the Ukrainian authorities in the east, but at the same to not be too zealous themselves. No, there will not be any kind of persecutions of clergy who supported the militants. There is nothing more horrifying than temporary inhibition from ministry. Nobody is about to verify the signals that parishes and monasteries of UPTsMP are supporting separatists. Well it is okay for them to make a phone call and deny rumors. There will be no investigations, none. Even that the GPU ventured to put pressure of Metropolitan Vladimir and everything comes down to condemnation of Yanukovich, Pshonka, and Zakharchenko, who are inaccessible to Ukrainian justice. And all bishops names that are connected with scandal will be blacked out and covered by church interests. There will be no self-cleansing. No reconsideration. To say nothing of repentance. Victors are not judged and Poroshenkos victory will be perceived in UPTsMP as somehow their own. Petro Poroshenko is not a new man in power. And of course he is not at all free from all those traditions and fashions that were established in the previous court; after all he himself was one of the courtiers. The model of his church conduct, unfortunately, is easily calculated several steps in advance. Because we already know this model. And there still are very few chances that UPTs will become a normal church. It will still observe multi-vectorism and federalism, remaining neither Muscovite nor Kievan, neither Ukrainian nor Russia, neither yours nor ours, and always such as is needed, but just try to accuse it of this and you will be slapped down that it is Christs. Therefore one should not expect any clear movements on the part of UPTsMP. Everything will again depend only on the will of the president and Patriarch Kirill. And also on whether they achieve a dialogue. The patriarch has made his move. The next is up to Poroshenko. He could, for example, politely invite Patriarch Kirill to the inauguration. That way the question of his persona non grata status would be quietly removed. And then it would be possible with peace of mind to remove troops from the Ukrainian borders. At least until the election of the Metropolitan of Kiev. (tr. by PDS, posted 22 June 2014) Russia Religion News Current News Items www2.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/1406f.html
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 12:52:08 +0000
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