UOC Archpriest Speaks Out Against Forced Mobilization of Clergy

The dean of the Muravankurylovetsky district of the Mohyliv-Podilskyi Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Archpriest Vasyl Balan, recorded a statement in response to the increasing cases of forced mobilization of clergy. He criticized the actions of the military and authorities, stating that such practices contradict church canons and threaten the spiritual mission of pastors. The video address was published on the YouTube channel of the church where the dean serves.

As an example, the priest cited a recent incident involving Hieromonk Paphnutiy, abbot of the Pochayiv Holy Spirit Monastery, who was taken into the army directly from a courthouse.

The archpriest emphasized that clergy, when ordained, take an oath to serve God and people, not to participate in military actions.

“Military personnel who took an oath, people in uniform, are teaching us to break our oath. We swore to serve God and people. We’ve been at war from day one,” the priest said.

He reminded that canonical law strictly forbids priests from bearing arms. According to Fr. Vasyl, pastors already serve on the spiritual front line, providing moral and spiritual support to soldiers and their families.

“Today I blessed a soldier’s car. We prayed, and he said: ‘Father, I feel better now.’ Am I not on a spiritual battlefield when I fight for his state of mind, so it’s easier for him to fight, so that God protects him?” the priest noted.

In his address, he also posed a rhetorical question to military commanders issuing draft notices to clergy: does society truly not need spiritual mentors who pray for the country, its soldiers, and its people?

“Do you want the pastor who cares for people to leave the front line of prayer? What kind of attitude will you receive when you take away the one who prays for you, for the state, for the soldiers? Think — do you need priests as spiritual mentors, as chaplains? If so, we are ready to go, but you don’t take us,” he said.

Fr. Vasyl also pointed out the clear hypocrisy of the situation, where real priests are sent to the front, while so-called chaplains remain in the rear, participating in church seizures and inciting hostility.

“Forgive me, they sit in the rear with grinders and hammers, breaking doors and seizing others’ property. These are not chaplains — they are bandits,” he emphasized.

In conclusion, the priest reminded that even in the most difficult years of history, clergy were not sent to the army; on the contrary, they were returned to their flocks to preserve the spiritual foundation of society.

“Tell me, in what country are clergy drafted into the army? Even during the Great Patriotic War, in the totalitarian times of Stalin, Molotov, and Beria — priests were not conscripted. On the contrary, they returned clergy, bishops, hierarchs, and monks from prisons to reopen churches and resume worship. Do you want to spiritually empty the people?” he said.

The dean called on the authorities to return Hieromonk Paphnutiy and other mobilized priests to their congregations.

It was previously reported that on June 22, Metropolitan Meletiy of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna delivered a sermon to the faithful of the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Chernivtsi. In his address, the hierarch commented on the events of June 17, when representatives of the OCU attempted to seize the church.