Balkan Orthodox leaders react to Zelensky’s Russian church ban
by Andreja Bogdanovski, Marian Chiriac
Orthodox leaders across the Balkans have been closely following and responding to the developments involving the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
In a bid to strengthen Ukraine’s “spiritual independence,” President Zelensky signed a law last week that outlaws the functioning of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine. The law also forbids religious organisations with ties to Moscow to operate in the country, making the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (formerly named UOC-Moscow Patriarchate) a possible target of the legislation.
The new law gives Ukraine’s judicial system the power to terminate the activities of a religious organisation if it is established that it maintains administrative and canonical relations with Moscow. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church will have nine months to cut ties before judicial processes start.
President Zelensky’s initiative received support from the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, which is composed of representatives of different denominations in Ukraine.
“No organisation – whether religious or secular – that has its centre in a country that has committed military aggression against our people and is governed by the aggressor state can operate in Ukraine,” the statement reads.
While the Russian Orthodox Church’s infrastructure across much of Eastern Europe is in decline, influential Orthodox leaders in the Balkans have been attacking President Zelensky’s actions.
The Patriarchs of Serbia and Bulgaria have repeatedly expressed strong dissatisfaction and offered support to the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Met. Onufry.
The newly enthroned Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil has been actively opposing President Zelensky’s plans.
During a meeting between him and the U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Merten in Sofia last week, Patriarch Daniil voiced serious worries about the “curtailment of freedom of religion, restriction of freedom to worship, forcible confiscation of Church property, and propaganda of hate speech” in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, he said, is a “subject of discriminatory policies of certain forces in Ukraine.” The Primate called Ukraine’s Western allies to assist in guaranteeing religious freedom and the right to worship.
This communication with the U.S. Ambassador follows a letter the Bulgarian Patriarch sent to the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on the 10th anniversary of his enthronement. In the letter, he referred to the UOC as the “canonical church.”
“Hard trials have befallen the Ukrainian people and their Church at the time of your Primateship. You opposed and, with God’s help, keep opposing all attempts to create a split-up, and you preserve the unity, integrity, and canonicity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. At the same time, these have been years of a division in Ukrainian society, during which you have always acted as a unifier and peacemaker, which is a Gospel duty of every true shepherd of Christ”, Patriarch Daniil wrote in the letter.
Under the leadership of Patriarch Daniil, the Bulgarian Church is actively turning towards the Russian Orthodox Church. The previous Patriarch, Neophyte, had a more reserved status, and the front lead among the churches in the Balkans was given to the Serbian church, where the Russian Orthodox Church exerts the greatest influence.
During a liturgy at St. Ivan Rilski in Pernik on Sunday, the Bulgarian Patriarch characterised Russia’s invasion as “fratricide” and asked for parishioners to pray for strengthening the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Daniil stated that the UOC is given nine months to join the “non-canonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine” and that the “majority of Orthodox Christians belong to the UOC.” The statements mirror Moscow’s position on the matter.
Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, a long-term supporter of Met. Onufry and Patriarch Kirill said that he had received the news about the legislation with “deep indignation”, drawing parallels to the time period of WW2 when the Serbian Orthodox Church was persecuted.
He questioned Zelensky’s aim with this legislation, suggesting that “new totalitarianism is being introduced”, hoping that “the responsible persons will turn from their insanity to the knowledge of justice and the truth.”
“Our sister Church in Ukraine is persecuted by the declaratively democratic authorities consisting of her fellow countrymen, which makes the situation complicated and incomparably absurd,” Porfirije stated.
Regarding the ban on the Russian-backed church in Ukraine, there has been no official response from the Romanian Orthodox Church (BOR) or the Metropolis of Moldova, the main Orthodox Church in the country, which is canonically subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate. However, the implications of the new law are significant for both Churches.
The BOR supports the establishment of a separate church for ethnic Romanians in Ukraine, ostensibly to help people of Romanian descent escape Russian religious propaganda. Yet, many of the approximately 400,000 Romanian speakers in Ukraine are members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This complex situation explains why the BOR is cautious about either criticising Kyiv's recent ban or openly supporting the UOC.
The creation of a new church for ethnic Romanians is a politically sensitive issue that requires the approval of Ukrainian leaders. “As of now, I don't think that the political leadership, including President Zelensky, has any interest in this issue. Therefore, it will likely remain under the discretion of the Ukrainian State Service for Ethnopolicies and Freedom of Conscience,” said Dmytro Vovk, who heads the Center for the Rule of Law and Religion Studies at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University in Ukraine, in an interview for Sinopsis.info.
Vovk is sceptical that any BOR structure in Ukraine will be officially recognised, particularly before the BOR formally recognises the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).
Despite this, some hierarchs within the Romanian Orthodox Church still view the OCU as non-canonical. “The OCU autocephaly was granted to a sectarian faction composed of defrocked priests, dissidents, Greek Catholics, and a ragtag group. The canonical Church is being persecuted, even though it is under Russian authority,” a theology professor recently wrote on social media.
Moreover, Romanian nationalists and ultra-Orthodox individuals claim that ethnic Romanians in Ukraine continue to be discriminated against, including on a religious level. A recent incident highlights this: one day before President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the bill banning religious groups with ties to Russia, a place of worship belonging to the Romanian-speaking community was closed for the first time in Ukraine. Specifically, a chapel affiliated with the Diocese of Chernivtsi and Bukovina under the UOC was sealed by local authorities, preventing the faithful from entering and praying.
Last October, the Chernivtsi City Council declared that the parish community no longer had the right to use the chapel, as it is located in a cemetery slated for renovation.
This incident sparked numerous comments on social media, with many accusing Ukrainian authorities of holding an "anti-Orthodox" and "anti-Romanian" stance.
The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew sent a delegation to Kyiv after the key vote to discuss the current challenges and explore the possibility of resuming dialogue between the Ukrainian Orthodox. After six years of no contact, representatives of the Patriarchate were able to talk to the UOC Primate, Met. Onufry.
Before the vote, the Ukrainian Presidential office stated that Bartholomew supports President Zelensky's initiative for “spiritual independence.”
Andreja Bogdanovski is a Skopje-born, Edinburgh-based freelance journalist and analyst covering religion, security, and politics, specialising in the Eastern Orthodox church.
Marian Chiriac is a journalist who mainly covers politics and human rights issues. He currently runs the BIRN Romania organisation.
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