The Devil's Advocate
Looking at the rhetoric of Shevchuk and his colleagues from the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (AUCCRO), it is hard not to recall the famous film with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves – the one where Reeves' character served as the devil's advocate.
The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Sviatoslav Shevchuk, at a meeting with representatives of the World Council of Churches once again repeated the lie convenient for the authorities: that Ukraine enjoys exemplary freedom of faith and that the authorities are not persecuting any Christians.
He separately dwelt on the law "On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Activity of Religious Organizations," which is simply referred to as the law banning the UOC.
"Rest assured: the state law on protecting Churches and religious organizations from encroachments by the aggressor country is not directed against any one specific Church, but in accordance with the principle of universality of all civil legislation, it concerns all of us without exception. It is directed against the instrumentalization of the Church and the turning of religion into a weapon," the head of the UGCC stated.
The absurdity of this statement is shocking. As is well known, the aforementioned law prohibits the activities of the Russian Church and all structures associated with it in Ukraine. And it is precisely because of "ties with Moscow" that the UOC is now being subjected to attempts at prohibition through the courts.
It follows that if the law "concerns all of us without exception," then the UGCC, the OCU, and all other Ukrainian confessions also have ties with Moscow? It follows that the members of parliament who shouted in the Rada after the vote that the adopted law bans the "UOC FSB" were lying? And Zelensky was also lying when he spoke of "spiritual de-occupation"?
Looking at the rhetoric of Shevchuk and his colleagues from the AUCCRO, it is hard not to recall the famous film with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves – the one where Reeves' character served as the devil's advocate.
The UOC is part of the Church of Christ – even its most outspoken enemies agree with this. And the seizures of churches, the violence, the mobilization of its clergy to the front, the expulsion of believers, and the drive toward a complete ban – this is not merely a struggle against "Moscow priests." This is an attempt to destroy the Church as such. And behind such attempts there always stand dark figures from the spiritual realm.
Therefore, Shevchuk and his colleagues from the AUCCRO, by promoting lies to please the authorities, are engaged in "advocacy" not for Zelensky at all. They are defending someone else entirely.
