“The directive sounds like an ultimatum, and any response will be deemed wrong” — Metropolitan Antoniy on the DESS decision

On 20 July 2025, Metropolitan Antoniy (Pakanich) addressed the faithful with a sermon, quoting the Apostle Paul: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” In his introduction, he noted that after the end of the Soviet period, many believed the struggle against faith was over. However, in his words, “even in a nightmare, we wouldn’t have dreamed that we would have to live through this again — that churches would be closed and the Church banned.” The sermon was delivered in the context of the directive issued by the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), instructing the Church to “eliminate ties with the ROC.” The full text is available on the Pravlife website.

The metropolitan described the directive as ultimatum-like: “The directive sounds like an ultimatum, and any response will be deemed wrong. Apparently, the verdict has already been prepared. Overall, it seems like a scripted scenario, and the Church’s Statute is of no real concern.”

The sermon also referenced prior actions by state authorities: “Previously, a court case was opened against Synod members, then the Primate was stripped of citizenship, and recently, the ultimatum directive was issued.” According to Metropolitan Antoniy, the goal of these actions is “to ban our Church — either entirely or in parts.”

In the sermon, Metropolitan Antoniy also cited the example of the Righteous Job: “Job was a God-fearing and pious man… And in one day, by God’s permission, Job suddenly lost all his wealth and all his children. Then he was struck by a terrible illness — leprosy, which covered him from head to foot.” Yet Job did not sin: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!”

“And today, with the words of righteous Job, we say: ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord!’ We, clergy and bishops, have a reason to live — for you, the faithful. We have a reason to suffer — for truth, for tradition, for the canons of the Church. And we have a reason to die — for Christ, because in Christ, the true life of a believer is revealed. Let us bravely accept everything the Lord sends us and not cross the final line, so as not to end up outside the canonical field,” the metropolitan urged.

He emphasized that regardless of circumstances, the faithful “must be attentive and sensitive, to attend churches, confess, and take Communion only where the grace of God is present.”

As a reminder, the situation with the termination of the citizenship of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy has caused deep concern in the church environment. Commenting on these events, Metropolitan Antoniy (Pakanich), Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, warned against the danger of an internal split, which, in his words, is more dangerous than external persecution.