The Church must expose the sins and delusion into which the people have fallen — Metropolitan Theodosius

On the feast day of the Holy Prophet Elijah, Metropolitan Theodosius of Cherkasy and Kaniv emphasized in his sermon that the Church is called not to follow the sentiments of society but, on the contrary, to bring truth to the people and correct them when they stray from God’s truth. The archpastor cited the example of the Prophet Elijah, who was not afraid to speak out against the sinful state of the people and unjust authority, even at the risk of his life. The sermon was published on the YouTube channel “Cherkasy Blagovestnik.”

The Metropolitan noted that Elijah acted against the will of the majority who had fallen into idolatry, remaining faithful to God when almost the entire nation followed Baal. According to him, even today the Church must be “ahead of the people,” not follow them, especially when the people choose the path of falsehood.

“The Church must be ahead. And if someone can, like the Prophet Elijah — they should expose it. And those who cannot — at least should not approve, should not agree, should not nod, should not sign anything that approves of this philosophy, this ideology — bloody, insatiable, and misanthropic,” said the hierarch.

He expressed with pain that society now lives in fear, with restricted freedom of speech and persecution of believers:
“That ideology, that philosophy, which brought us to this day — when blood is being shed, when people are caught on the streets like cattle, when it is impossible to say a word — there is no freedom of speech, because criminal cases, detention centers, and other arrests follow immediately. When the Church is banned, when the Primate of the Church is stripped of citizenship, when Metropolitan Arseniy is sitting in a detention center… And what, the Church is supposed to go along with the mistakes, with the delusions approved by the people? Of course not!”

In this context, Metropolitan Theodosius turned to the image of the Prophet Elijah, drawing a parallel with the realities of modern Ukraine:
“And if the Prophet Elijah lived in our time, in modern Ukraine — what would he do? Would he like everything that is happening around, or not? Would he stay silent, or wouldn’t he? Would they intimidate him like Jezebel did, or would they actually do something to him? For example, strip him of Ukrainian citizenship, put an electronic bracelet on his leg and place him under house arrest, or maybe throw him into a detention center. Could that happen if the Prophet Elijah began to speak the truth about what is going on around us? I believe it could. And they wouldn’t let the Prophet Elijah flee into the desert. They wouldn’t.”

The hierarch concluded that the Church cannot bless sin or support errors that are “agreed upon with the people.” On the contrary — it is obliged to expose delusion and inspire people to repentance and spiritual renewal. Even when this means enduring persecution.

It should be recalled that the Rivne Diocese of the OCU issued a statement accusing Metropolitan Theodosius (Snihiryov) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in connection with his pastoral visit to the village of Kvasyliv in the Rivne region. In the statement, the Metropolitan was called “one of the symbols of spiritual collaboration,” and his presence in Ukraine — “an event that wounds the conscience.”