A criminal case opened against Metropolitan of Cherkasy

Metropolitan Theodosy of Cherkasy and Kaniv said that at the end of last year a criminal case was opened against him under Article 161 of the Criminal Code, but the Metropolitan was not informed about this. He spoke about this in the Sermon for the Week of the Last Judgment.

“Two days ago this place, as well as my apartment in Kyiv, was raided with searches. The search lasted for 10 hours, but it was not clear what they were looking for, nothing was found. However, they handed me the suspicion that I was the main suspect in a criminal case. What is it? Article 161 of the Criminal Code: ‘Violation of the rights of citizens on religious grounds’,” said the hierarch of the UOC.

Metropolitan Theodosy expressed surprise that the canonical Church is being discriminated against, but Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine does not apply to its persecutors.

He explained what formed the basis of the case: “Over the past decade, as a hierarch of the UOC and a professor at the Kyiv Theological Academy, I systematically spoke about the position of our Church regarding the schism in Ukraine and in the world, showed the difference between the canonical Church and other denominations, including Orthodox, in Ukraine and in the world. I have appeared on television and online. Those videos where I express the ecclesiological position of our Church are imputed to me as a crime, since some expert said, ‘What he says elevates one confession and humiliates others,’” said the Metropolitan of the UOC.

Vladyka noted that every believer considers his faith, his confession to be truthful and main, because that is why he or she chose it. Everyone has different points of view on theological issues, and we express them, disagree with others, criticize opponents. However, the hierarchs of the UOC are accused of criticizing the Kyiv Patriarchate, the OCU, Patriarch Bartholomew and other opponents in the theological and canonical sense.

“I do not regret a single word that I said on television or in support of the hierarchs and clergy who are being persecuted today. I have supported and will continue to support all the bishops, as far as I can, with everything I can, who will be under pressure from society, from the government, from the media. I hope that we will survive this period in the life of our society. I hope that what is happening now is temporary; as soon as they stop escalating, the people who do not go to church will come to their senses, and those who go to church already know everything very well – this is our common pain. The people at a deep level do not support this pressure on the Church. We need to support each other. There are millions of us. If everyone defends the Church in their own place, they will not be able to do anything to us,” Metropolitan Theodosy summed up.

As the UOJ reported, earlier Metropolitan Theodosy commented on the searches of the SBU in the Zolotonosha monastery: SBU officers, having thrown the flag of "Novorossiya", made themselves a laughingstock before the whole country.