UOC Chancellor: All the Church’s trials today are purification, not defeat

Metropolitan Anthony. Photo: Metropolitan Anthony's Facebook

The Administrator of Church Affairs of the UOC, Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich), urged believers to perceive the current trials not as a defeat but as purification and a path toward victory. He made his address ahead of the court hearing concerning the possible ban on the Kyiv Metropolia of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).

“Dear brothers and sisters, we once again stand before serious trials. On October 30, another court session will take place, whose ultimate goal is to terminate the activity of the Kyiv Metropolia of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” the hierarch said.

He noted that, from a human standpoint, the UOC can expect no help: “We clearly see that no public figure, no civic or religious organization, no political force will come to our defense. Yet this is no cause for despair. What is impossible for man is not impossible for God. Everything that happens to us as members of the Holy Church of Christ has its divine purpose.”

Citing St. John Chrysostom, Metropolitan Anthony reminded that God allows sorrows and persecutions to purify believers, teach humility, and make them better: “The true Church has always been tempered in suffering and trials. What is happening now should not frighten us, but rather encourage us to strengthen our prayers and humbly accept everything as the will of God.”

The Metropolitan emphasized the key thought of his address: “What we are living through now is not defeat, but purification. The Lord allows the storm to strip away the ashes of indifference from our souls, to make us alive, deep, and genuine. For faith that has not passed through fire will never become gold.”

He compared the Church to a ship in a storm: “Today our Church is like a ship standing on stormy waves yet not sinking. Her strength lies not in numbers or human support, but in Christ, Who is always with us.”

Quoting St. Basil the Great, he added: “When faith is persecuted, it shines; when it is oppressed, it grows; when it is humiliated, it is exalted by the power of God.”

“Let us not fear and not fall into despair. Even if human courts are unjust, the Lord is the righteous Judge. Not a single prayer, tear, or pain of heart will vanish in vain,” the hierarch said.

Metropolitan Anthony also drew attention to the symbolic date of the court hearing: “It is no coincidence that the hearing against the Kyiv Metropolia will take place on the day when the Holy Church venerates the icon of the Mother of God called the ‘Deliverer.’ We believe that the Most Holy Theotokos always hears our prayers, for we are all Her children. Let us turn our hearts to Her, the Mother of God and the Mother of each of us, that She may cover us with Her omophorion and protect us from human malice.”

The Metropolitan concluded by calling all faithful to prayer and fasting: “Dear brothers and sisters, I ask everyone who cares about the fate of our Church to spend October 29 and 30 in strict fasting and fervent prayer. May the All-Merciful Lord, through the prayers of His Most Pure Mother, deliver us from every evil and give us the strength to endure all trials He sends us for our salvation.”

The UOC is currently enduring unprecedented persecution by the authorities: hundreds of churches have been seized by schismatics with the support of local officials; criminal cases have been opened against clergy; and searches have been conducted in churches and monasteries. Now, the government seeks through the courts to terminate the activities of the Kyiv Metropolia – the central administrative structure of the UOC.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the hearing on banning the Kyiv Metropolia, originally scheduled for September 30, was postponed.

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