Mobilization of UOC clergy: is the government simply purging "Moscow priests"?
UOC clergy – unlike those of the OCU, UGCC, Jews, Muslims, and pagans – are granted no deferments.
The Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese has announced the number of mobilized clergy – 18. Of these, one has been killed and two are missing in action (and we understand what that means). This raises the question: what is the overall situation across Ukraine?
Almost daily, reports emerge of one or another clergyman being seized by TCC personnel. Some are eventually returned, but many are sent for a military medical commission, then to a training ground, and further – to the front.
Currently, there are 38–39 dioceses on Ukrainian-controlled territory. Some are larger than the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese, some are smaller. In some areas the TCC operates more aggressively, in others more leniently. But on the whole, this diocese can be considered "average." And if we multiply 18 by the number of dioceses, we arrive at a figure close to 700.
At the same time, the authorities are perfectly aware that the mobilization of clergy is an entirely pointless exercise: they cannot take up arms. Yelensky himself acknowledges: "A priest cannot shed blood. He can offer only the so-called bloodless sacrifice."
Nevertheless, UOC clergy – unlike those of the OCU, UGCC, Jews, Muslims, and pagans – are granted no deferments. The only "benefit" they can bring to the country is to go to the front and die.
Never before has the struggle against "Moscow priests" been so effective.
