A week before the second round, the UOC (MP) joined the election campaign
The second week of the election period in Ukraine showed even greater intensity of the confrontation between the contenders for the presidency. This was also manifested in the approach to campaigning for them on the part of the main Ukrainian confessions.
As we recall , immediately after the first round, the clergy of the newly formed "Holy Church of Ukraine" limited themselves to expressing doubts about the vaunted "wisdom of the Ukrainian people" who voted for a "clown." At best, they lamented that "Russian Grads" didn't hit Kryvyi Rih and its 95th district. Now, Petro Zynych, a clergyman of the main cathedral of the "Holy Church of Ukraine" (St. Vladimir's Cathedral in Kyiv) and professor of the theology department at the "Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy," predicts that "everyone who voted for Zelensky will burn in hell." One can only imagine the level of the "theology" of the "Holy Church of Ukraine" as a whole, if such sober-minded individuals are presiding over the Last Judgment there before the Lord God.
“ Meritorious deeds of great illumination ” in “church” awards
Officials of the "UCU" also joined the campaign for Poroshenko in the second week after the first round. For example, the head of the Chernivtsi "diocese" stated that in the second round, "the gift of God, reason, must be used," while in the first round, 30 percent of voters were "overwhelmed by emotion."
In our previous review , we noted that Zelenskyy's team's assurances of "support for the tomos" were not made by him and were made in response to persistent questions from journalists—just to get them off their backs. "Head of the OCU Epifaniy" also pointed this out : "I personally haven't heard any support from the candidate... And we always evaluate not promises. We evaluate the actual deeds that have been done so far and will be done in the future."
Also, following his Uniate colleague Svyatoslav Shevchuk, Dumenko began to voice the Poroshenko administration's directives that "we need to elect a commander-in-chief who, in a state of war, will be capable of ensuring the defense of our freedom from Russian encroachment and will be able to say 'No!' to the Russian president."
We also noted the fear of losing state support openly expressed by the "OCU" (and this in a state constitutionally separated from the church). And so "Honorary Patriarch Filaret" became emphatic : "We have no doubt that Poroshenko will support the unification of Ukrainian Orthodoxy. But we don't know how Zelenskyy will behave if he is elected."
Uniate Shevchuk, as a representative of the exemplary Ukrainian denomination, went further than anyone else and issued an official message. "Today, we in Ukraine will demonstrate our national and Christian maturity by participating in the Ukrainian presidential elections... We will not allow anyone to ridicule Ukraine," the chief Uniate said, "transparently" hinting at the impermissibility of the "Make the Comedian Laugh" host's victory.
As for the Ukrainian Catholic University we mentioned in our last review, then, following its vice-rector, the former Soviet dissident Marynovych, ex-Komsorg member of the ideologically correct history department Hrytsak also joined the campaign for Poroshenko.
Photo by Klymenko Time
Well, the main feature of the second week of election campaigning carried out by Ukrainian confessions is that representatives of the canonical Church are becoming more and more clearly involved in it.
Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye did this in the form of an absentee polemic with the “SCU”: “Epiphanius (for some reason the Bishop calls this person who has no relation to the Church by his “monastic” name - D.S.) calls for voting for a head of state who will be a strong Commander-in-Chief and will repel external aggression. Again... just militaristic rhetoric. And nothing about peaceful ways to resolve the conflict, domestic politics and concrete changes to improve the lives of the people at all levels. Maybe the strong-willed power of this particular candidate, supported by the structure headed by citizen Dumenko, is geared only to fighting outsiders, and is no longer able to change?”
Back on April 2, on his telegram channel Lekar.zp, Metropolitan Luke justified the just right of the Church to be involved in any social, including political, processes: “The Church... is called upon to provide tools and help, and not impose, to understand the correctness of the choice.” According to the manager of the Zaporozhye and Melitopol diocese, “people made a choice not in favor of “clownery and show”, for which they reproach them, but voted against what is happening to our country... Enough to say “no” to the past five-year plan... We, the faithful children of our canonical Mother Church, we know firsthand about the destructive consequences that struck our country after government initiatives to “build” the OCU. No changes are planned in this direction, even after our Primate openly stated this at a meeting with the current Head of State. This situation puts everything in its place. We live in a democratic state, we have the right to choose. Including the question of how to effectively protect our Church, as well as our fundamental rights and freedoms.”
On the very day of the first round, the bishop “telegrammed”: “There is still a second round ahead, in which we must also take part, not support lawlessness.”
Kherson archpriest Fr., popular among Orthodox netizens, allows himself to speak out even more directly. Gennady Shkil: “Having blessed the willow, I will go on Palm Sunday and vote for Zelensky... I wish that the current regime, fighting against the Church, will be swept out of our poor country with the blessed willow.”
“The Church is threatened by another five-year tenure as president of a man who, for the sake of his rating, swung at her, the Church of Christ!” the priest explains his impulse. And he is supported in the comments by the professor of the Kyiv Theological Academy Viktor Chernyshev: “Clever girl, father, right on point!” Zelensky, according to an authoritative theologian, “of course, a pig in a poke, but this is the best for the Church.”
English version :: Read in English A week before the second round, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) joined the election campaign.