UOC cleric on mobilization of priests: You make us break our oath

Archpriest Vasyl Balan. Photo: a video screenshot from the YouTube channel of the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos

The dean of the Murovani Kurylivtsi District of the Mohyliv-Podilskyi Eparchy of the UOC, Archpriest Vasily Balan, addressed the military and the country's government with a statement on the unacceptability of forced mobilization of the clergy.

"You’ve heard and know from the media that priests are being taken into the army more and more often – by force," said the UOC cleric in a video message posted on the YouTube channel on June 24, 2025. He cited the example of Hieromonk Paphnutiy, the Holy Spirit Monastery, who was taken directly from the courthouse.

According to him, the actions of the authorities and the military force clergymen to go against their conscience and break the oath they took at ordination: to serve God and people, not to take up arms.

"The military, who took an oath, people who wear uniforms, teach us to break our oath. We took an oath to serve God and people. We have been at war since the first day," the priest emphasized.

He highlighted that the Church canons strictly forbid priests from taking up arms. According to him, the clergy are already daily on the front – spiritual, providing support to soldiers and their families. 'Today I blessed a soldier's car. We prayed, and he said: 'Father, I feel better.' Am I not in a spiritual war when I fight for his state, to make it easier for him to fight, for God to protect him?"

He addressed the military commanders who issue draft notices to clergy: “Do you want the pastor who spiritually cares for people to leave the front line of prayer? How will people regard you when you take away the one who prays for you, for the state, for the soldiers? Think about whether you need priests as spiritual guides, as chaplains. If so, we are ready to go – but you don’t take us.”

The priest also pointed out the glaring contrast: true pastors are taken into the army, while pseudo-chaplains seize Orthodox churches, stir up hostility among the people, receive sizable salaries, and stay far from the front lines.

"Sorry, they sit in the rear with angle grinders and hammers, breaking doors and seizing other people's property. These are not chaplains – these are robbers," he said.

In conclusion, the clergyman called on the authorities not to deprive people of spiritual guidance.

"Tell me, in what country is the clergy drafted into the army? Even during the Great Patriotic War, when, we say, it was the totalitarian time of Stalin, Molotov, Beria, priests were not conscripted. On the contrary, they returned clergy, bishops, hierarchs, monks from prisons to open churches and resume worship. Do you want to spiritually impoverish people? A believer – a person strong in spirit and faith – will fulfill his military duty as well."

He appealed for the return of Hieromonk Paphnutiy and other mobilized priests to their flock so that they could continue their prayer mission for the sake of peace and spiritual strengthening of the people.

As the UOJ reported, a priest from the Kamianske was pressured to sign a military contract.

Read also