Metropolitan Theodosiy to authorities: You will answer for abusing believers

Metropolitan Theodosiy attacked during the 2024 storming of the UOC cathedral in Cherkasy. Photo: UOJ

Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv said that government officials involved in persecuting Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) believers would be held accountable after the war ends. The hierarch addressed the faithful following a commercial court hearing in a case involving the Cherkasy cathedral.

The metropolitan acknowledged that believers no longer expect a fair court ruling. “Over the past few years, we have learned very well what justice means to certain judges and law enforcement agencies who did nothing when we were beaten inside the cathedral. When thugs armed with clubs attacked us, they stood there in police uniforms, smiling,” he said.

According to Metropolitan Theodosiy, believers continue to gather and publicly defend the truth to ensure that what is happening is documented.

“We believe the time will come when the rule of law and justice return to our country. And when that time comes, let those who are now making unlawful decisions and reveling in their impunity not say, ‘We didn't know. We thought everything was legal. We made a mistake. Please forgive us,’” the hierarch emphasized.

He addressed lawyers, prosecutors, police officers, and judges in particular:

“You see and understand everything, yet you tell yourselves, and sometimes even us, ‘The war will wipe the slate clean.’ No, it won't. The war will end someday, and you will be held accountable for abusing your fellow citizens – your own mothers and grandmothers who attend the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.”

The metropolitan compared those currently persecuting the UOC to Soviet secret police officers of the Cheka and NKVD who persecuted believers in the 20th century. “How are you any different? It's exactly the same,” he said.

The hierarch urged his flock to remain peaceful and calm while standing firm in their convictions: “Black is black, and white is white. The law is the law, and lawlessness is lawlessness.”

In closing, Metropolitan Theodosiy expressed his faith that Archangel Michael, under whose patronage the cathedral was built, would not abandon the faithful and that every tear and drop of blood shed by UOC believers in the Cherkasy region would “be rewarded with crowns.”

As the UOJ previously reported, St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral in Cherkasy was seized on October 17, 2024, during a second attempt to take control of the church. About 100 people wearing camouflage and balaclavas stormed the cathedral during a nighttime Liturgy, beating parishioners and spraying them with gas while police stood by without intervening. Metropolitan Theodosiy was hospitalized after the attack with a concussion and burns to his eyes.

The UOJ also reported earlier that the Cherkasy Prosecutor's Office had demanded that city authorities transfer the cathedral into municipal ownership, citing the Ministry of Justice's March 2024 cancellation of the eparchy's property ownership registration.

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