Metropolitan Anthony criticized the clergy and believers of the UOC who flirt with the persecutors of the Church

The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich), criticized the clergy and believers of the UOC who maintain relations with the open persecutors of Christ’s Church. The bishop called this phenomenon “false peacemaking,” noting that while such supporters of compromise try to play along with those who persecute the Church, believers and clergy are being beaten throughout the country, and churches and monasteries of the UOC are being seized. The words of the metropolitan are reported by Orthodox Life.

«Periods of persecution in the history of the Church give birth to multitudes of confessors and martyrs. At the same time, unfortunately, not everyone is ready to suffer: some compromise their conscience, while others betray it. It has always been this way and will probably continue to be so until the end of time. There is another type of people who seem to belong to the Church, but at the same time demonstratively and publicly maintain close relations with those who persecute their Church. They remain silent when churches are seized by force, when bishops, priests, and laypeople are beaten, when clergy are sent to prison. But as soon as one of the believers protests against the repression of their Church, voices from this spectrum immediately call for “more tolerance” and “love for all.” Of course, the Lord commanded us to love and pray for everyone, including our persecutors. But nowhere did He say to turn a blind eye to injustice and persecution of our brothers,» — the bishop noted.

The Metropolitan added that while some representatives of the UOC spread demagoguery about “forgiveness” and “tolerance,” unprecedented persecution of the Church continues, in which, in particular, those whom the “peacemakers” are trying to appease participate, even taking upon themselves part of the blame for what is happening.

«Meanwhile, in the name of such ‘forgiveness’ and ‘tolerance,’ various organizations and ‘brotherhoods’ are being created, where conferences and meetings are held together with those who seek to destroy our Church. They are also dominated by a hypocritical spirit of ‘mutual understanding’, because outside the windows of cosy conference rooms there is real robbery and raider seizures with beatings of believers of the UOC. It is especially sad that even some priests and monks participate in such events. Perhaps some of them naively believe that by communicating with what they consider to be the “best” representatives of the structures that have set themselves the task of destroying the Church, they will be able to change the situation for the better. But from the outside, this looks very doubtful. When the abbot of the Svyatogorsk Lavra, Metropolitan Arseny, who has a whole “bouquet” of chronic diseases, is innocently imprisoned, when our shrines are seized and desecrated, when our clergy and believers are persecuted and beaten, when our Church itself is slandered daily in the press, enduring terrible slander, the champions of imaginary “brotherly love” can only agree with the persecutors, calmly listen to their unthinkable anti-church slander, and awkwardly nod their heads at the reproaches that we ourselves are to blame for such an attitude towards us. One can only complain about such supposedly “peaceful” dubious activities and become even more steadfast in one’s faith in the Church in which we were baptized and to which all our clergy swore allegiance when they took holy orders,» — said the hierarch of the UOC.

It should be noted that recently, the Slavyansk City District Court of Donetsk Region extended the stay of Metropolitan Arseny of Svyatogorsk in the pre-trial detention center for another 60 days, until September 29. Prior to this, the bishop had been behind bars for eight days without the appropriate court sanction, and in general, the hierarch’s imprisonment has been ongoing since April 25, 2024.