Prayer is stronger than hatred

Ukrainian journalist Maxim Kostenko speaks on the outcomes of the All-Ukrainian Cross Procession.

On 27 July, the capital of Ukraine became a witness to the grandiose event. Nearly 100 thousand believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church took part in the Cross Procession from the St. Vladimir Hill to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. During the Procession, pilgrims were singing prayers, asking God to bestow a long-awaited peace to the country.

The UOC opponents did not expect such an enormousness. Over the last few weeks, tons of barrels with lies have been poured onto participants of the All-Ukrainian Cross Procession. Virtually every day the consciousness of readers and viewers was hit by “carpet bombing” from mass media and representatives of the “pundit” community. “Columns of Russian troops are moving to the center of Ukraine under the guise of UOC parishioners”, “saboteurs from the CI and FSB will penetrate into Kiev under the canopy of women and children”, “there are lots of suspicious young guys with soldierly appearance amid the Cross Procession”, “we should expect considerable provocations and seizure of the power”, “so called believers are wearing St. George ribbons and DNR/LNR flags”. All this is far from the full list of the “horror stories”, by means of which certain forces were trying to discredit the All-Ukrainian Cross Procession in the eyes of the Ukrainian public at large.   

Apart from that, social media and the Internet teemed with all possible threats towards the pilgrims. Some of the most active radical minds proposed, for instance, to shoot the UOC faithful from machine-guns, squeeze them with tanks, burn them alive, and even crucify on the sidewalk. Even though it was hot air, it added largely to whipping up unprecedented hysteria around the Cross Procession.   

At the final stage blockade of the spiritual and peacekeeping mission of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was enhanced by the representatives of the “war party”. It has a huge representation in the power corridors, being highly interested in prolongation of the conflict in Donbass. For it is not only about tremendous illegal revenues at the cost of exploitation of various “black” schemes. This is a possibility to hold the power firmly in their hands, justifying a slump in the living standards and the government failures in the social and economic sphere by implications of the armed confrontation in the East of the country. 

In this context, the All-Ukrainian Cross Procession with its praying for peace definitely did not match the actualities of the “Ukrainian Oceania”. Thus, the “collective O’Brien” began to deal its blows.

They were different. These were attempts of moral pressure on the participants near Borispol, when eggs and litter were thrown at the miraculous icon of the Mother of God. These were intimidations by radicals of the UOC believers in Odessa, resulting in disruption of the departure of buses with pilgrims for participation in the festivities on July 27. These were discoveries of numerous “plantings” with explosives on the entrance road to the capital (followed by blocking of the Procession column, whereas the traffic was allowed to move freely despite “dangerous mined areas”).   

Besides, it was prohibition for the Procession participants to walk to the St. Vladimir Hill. The climax of the event was introducing an unprecedented passport control and metal detection equipment for the people before they could reach their destination – festive moleben on the St. Vladimir Hill.  

It might be the case that all above-mentioned steps were supposed to essentially reduce the number of the UOC Cross Procession participants. Successful implementation of such pragmatics would enable to create the required “televisual picture”. The picture that had to prove that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had actually fallen down to the marginal level within the Ukrainian society.     

On 27 July, these schemes spectacularly failed. Tens of thousands people had gathered on the St. Vladimir Hill. The fact that the Column had been going for over 2 hours from the Hill before it reached the venue of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra  is a telling proof to the event being unprecedented in its sweep!   

It was a triumph, full and unquestionable victory!

What is its main outcome?

Firstly, the Ukrainian citizens demonstrated they support their Church. The pilgrims received a hearty welcome, food and drinks along the whole itinerary of the Cross Procession. The columns were joined by tens of thousands people who wanted to cover at least a short distance with the prayer to regain peace and unity in the country. They could see the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was proceeding peacefully, they could feel it embodies the truth, therefore, they could understand the UOC is on the right side of the history, according to one political expert.   

Secondly, the Ukrainian state can enjoy the first serious chance of avoiding the “Titanic” lot. The war like an iceberg can finally make a hole in the plating of the “Ukraine” state ship and make it sink. Yet, the UOC peacekeeping mission is able to divert the country from this terrible route and prevent the catastrophe. The All-Ukrainian Cross Procession formed the basis for all healthy forces of the society to unite and to set up the so called “peace party”.    

Thirdly, the religious Procession of the UOC has united Ukraine de-facto: it brought together, mano a mano, brothers and sisters in Christ, who were going from the West and from the East of the country. Prayer appeared to be stronger than hatred and mutual hostility. This is the biggest victory of the All-Ukrainian Cross Procession. 

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