Is it normal for the Russian Security Council to convene urgently in the Kremlin with a single item on the agenda — how to protect the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine? My dear people, you have nothing to do with this. Your church has no business here. Your army has nothing to do with this. Your weapons have no business here. Go home, to Russia,» said Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
This confirms the prediction we made two months ago in the introductory article on this topic: «And now it’s time for the ‘Russian Church’ to pay the bills. The leadership of Ukraine, now seeking the legacy of Kyivan Rus, after receiving the tomos from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, clearly intends to drive the parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate into the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine». In other words, Orthodox parishes in Ukraine will either have to join the independent Ukrainian Church when it receives the tomos from Constantinople (which will happen soon), or if they continue to consider themselves part of the Moscow Patriarchate, they will be told «goodbye».
Of course, Poroshenko clarifies that the Ukrainian state does not interfere in the affairs of the Church. But then he adds: «But it will not allow foreign states to do so either. And since the Moscow Patriarchate, according to the quote, is equated with Russian tanks and «vacationers» on Ukrainian territory, the activities of its branch will be considered a political rather than a religious issue.
Well, in Russia the activities of such absolutely non-extremist structures as «Nurjular» or Jamat «Tabligh», which do not pursue any political goals, are banned. Why should Ukraine behave differently towards a religious structure whose numerous representatives are involved in anti-Ukrainian activities or share anti-Ukrainian views?