The OCU announced a crisis in the military chaplaincy system and accused the Ministry of Defense of incompetence

On June 22, 2023, the first founding meeting of the Interfaith Council for Military Chaplaincy under the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine was held. The website of the OCU reports this.

At this meeting, the chairman of the Synodal Department of the Military Clergy of the OCU, Ioann Yaremenko, stated that the process of establishing the military chaplaincy system was in a crisis.

“The reason for this, in our opinion, is improper attention and incompetence on the part of representatives of the Department of Social and Humanitarian Support of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, which is officially entrusted with the organization of the military chaplaincy service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” he said.

According to Yaremenko, most of all criticism is caused by “unprofessional behavior and incompetence in religious matters of officers of the SEC of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

“For a long time, we feel neglected by these structures in cooperation with the OCU’s Department of Internal Affairs in resolving pressing issues of organizing the service of military chaplains, representatives of the OCU. This negatively affects the involvement of clergy in the chaplaincy. Neglect and incompetent management by the SEC leads to that a significant number of active chaplains intend to leave their positions at the end of the special period,” the “hierarch” noted.

He added that “the OCU, despite the largest group of chaplains, is not represented in the management of the SEC of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

“All problematic issues were voiced by me at the founding meeting of the Interfaith Council and we proposed to postpone the creation of the Interfaith Council until the problematic issues were resolved. However, our proposals were rejected. Therefore, I decided not to participate in the voting and formation of the Interfaith Council,” Yaremenko said.

In his opinion, ignoring the position of the OCU, which, according to polls, scored 80% of the need for military chaplains of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, “will lead to the decline of spiritual care in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

“I call on the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, the military leadership and religious communities to pay due attention to the harmfulness of the processes that are taking place in the field of the formation of the SEC and to immediately begin their constructive solution,” the head of the OCU chaplains emphasized.