Bishop Yevstratii: Moscow's plan to liquidate UOC-KP is aimed against Ukrainian statehood
In an interview to RISU, Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) Bishop Yevstratii (Zoria) of Vasylkivtsi said that the situation in the church life of Ukraine from 1991-1992 has been the result of the realization of the church-state plans of Moscow and called Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church “the main architect of the present divide of the Ukrainian Church.”
At the same time, Bishop Yevstratii noted that in view of the close connection between the authorities and the church in Russia, the plan to liquidate the UOC-KP, disclosed in Patriarch Filaret's New Year's statemen, cannot be called a plan of only the Moscow Patriarchate: “It is rather a Moscow or Russian plan that is to be implemented in Ukraine through the Moscow Patriarch and, probably, through other channels as well.”
According to him, the main element of the plan is the fact that the Kyivan Patriarchate “lost the support of the authorities,” and the Moscow Patriarchate “has been granted the support of the authorities.” In the opinion of the bishop, priests of the UOC-KP are being persuaded to transfer to the Moscow Patriarchate exactly on that basis.
Pressure is being put on the clergy of the UOC-KP through officials of the district level, sponsors of the construction or through their acquaintances, who are priests of the Moscow Patriarchate, noted the bishop. According to him, the fact that it is done “on an instruction from above” is indicated, in particular, by the coordination of actions of the officials of the state district administration officials in this question.
According to the bishop, the mentioned plan of Moscow regarding the UOC-KP is aimed, on one hand, to marginalize that church in the whole territory of Ukraine: “Some 'harmless' dozen of parishes in each region, which would not have sufficient power to influence anything, will be left. We can see that the plan is being implemented in central and eastern Ukraine through the activity of the Moscow Patriarchate and that the UAOC [Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church] is becoming more active in the west of Ukraine. Therefore, attempts will be made to transfer our parishes to the UAOC.”
On the other hand, the authors of the plan thereby seek to create a constantly unstable internal situation in Ukraine using the problem of interchurch relations as well as the problem of the language and history, the issue of the relations between different parts of Ukraine. According to the bishop, “Moscow's agents of influence” are trying to create an unstable situation in Ukraine, and some of them “even officially hold posts supported by Moscow and officially state that they work for specific structures." Violations of the main rights and freedoms of citizens will help to stir the society, provoke a reaction of Europe and, consequently, “give President Yanukovych no possibility to maneuvre between Russia and the West, make him a leader who will have to cooperate only in one political area, the area of Moscow, and eventually turn him into a puppet of Moscow.”
Bishop Yevstratii stresses that “representatives of the Ukrainian authorities who are being used today for the realization of that plan should understand that it is aimed not so much against the Kyivan Patriarchate as it is against the Ukrainian statehood in general.”
