How Ukrainian Churches survive in annexed Crimea
In Crimea only one priest of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church stays on a permanent basis. Others have the right to perform worship in the peninsula on a rotating basis in the presence of migration cards. The fact is that priests from mainland Ukraine have the right to stay in the Russian-annexed Crimea for no more than 90 days. This is stated in the article by Yana Stepankovska "How Ukrainian churches manage to remain Ukrainian in Crimea" for QirimInfo edition.
The pastor of the Greek Catholic community in Yalta was forced to leave Crimea in April 2014. During 2014, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the patriarch of the UGCC, which has half a dozen parishes in Crimea, reported that Russian propaganda considers Greek-Catholics to be the “radical nationalists.”
The application of the Crimean Deanery of the UGCC for re-registration under Russian legislation was filed more than six months ago, has not been approved so far. According to Chancellor of Odessa exarchate of the UGCC Mykola Slobodian, the administration of the annexed peninsula constantly refers to trivial grammatical errors. "I see no logical explanation why our registration has not yet been approved. It looks like they just do not know what to do with the Church in Crimea. If they had to refuse, it would have failed long ago: hard to deny and do not know how to resolve. Perhaps they are waiting for the decision of Moscow,” Fr Mykola said.
According to one of the priests of the UGCC, who serves on the peninsula, Crimean dean of the UGCC may legally exist by March 2016 based on documents issued by Ukraine. However, the process of re-registration is imminent. "There is a choice: either the elimination of the community (i.e. all places of worship will be taken away from us), or we will legally resolve this issue. Both the Vatican, and the Ukrainian government are working on it,” says the priest. In addition, he said that the wave when we did not know from where to wait for danger (and not even from government officials and from different fanatically minded people) has already surged back. Currently, there are no specific claims against priests and parishioners of the UGCC, but overall anti-Ukrainian sentiment can be felt in the peninsula.
As for the Crimean Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate, its representatives did not submit documents for registration under Russian law. “We do not believe our church should be in the forefront of those who will be reregistered according to the Russian law, as the Moscow Patriarchate did in June,” the head of the press center of Kyivan Patriarchate Archbishop Yevstratii (Zorya) said. “Our stance is that not many will be able to register under Russian legislation, so our religious organizations in Crimea will not do it.”
Currently in Crimea there are nine religious communities of the UOC-KP out of forty-one that were registered under Ukrainian law. Even before the occupation not all of them operated in full, but obviously a greater number than now were running. Many priests were forced to leave Crimea since the occupation. The priests and parishioners, who have stayed, experience pressure.
In Sevastopol and Perevalne village the temples were forcibly seized; the local “prosecution office” did not even consider the last case, when the congregation was attacked by representatives of the “Crimean self-defense,” leaving the offenders unpunished.
Also the parishes of UOC-KP in Kerch and Krasnoperekopsk have been liquidated. On the eve of the New Year 2016, the Russian security forces invaded the apartment of the parents of a pastor of UOC-KP, who has left Crimea five years ago and is among the clergy of Dnipropetrovsk diocese. But “the Crimean prosecutor's office” issued a decree to bring him to justice for alleged participation in extremist organizations.
“It is clear now that our priests are not kicked out and are not killed, as did the religious leaders of the bandits in Donbas. However, undoubtedly, certain pressure, both permanent and psychological, is being exerted,” Archbishop Yevstratii said. “There is pressure from the Russian special services who constantly monitor the activities of our priests, our community. In fact, the very identity of the Kyiv Patriarchate in the occupied Crimea already gives reason to feel danger. It is the majority of people who speak Ukrainian language, go to the service held in Ukrainian church, where prayers for the preservation of Ukraine are performed, where Ukrainians celebrate holidays such as Independence Day, commemorate the victims on Holodomor Memorial Day. Religious communities are operating, though obviously not to the same extent as before. But it should be noted that before the occupation of the Crimea, the Kyiv Patriarchate was oppressed, disadvantaged in Crimea, and Crimean authorities did everything to prevent the activity of our churches in favor of the Moscow Patriarchate. Thus, the premised and land were not provided, other forms of oppression were being used. And after the occupation, a number of premises in which the prayer was performed, some churches were seized by the so-called “self-defense”. Some communities have lost their prayer houses because they leased them from private owners, who were forced to refuse from lease. In this way, in particular, the community in Kerch was devoid of the possibility to pray.”
In any case, the UOC-KP does not consider the need to undergo re-registration under the laws of the Russian Federation, because their religious communities act in accordance with Ukrainian registration and are not involved in any illegal activities in Crimea. If the occupation authorities in the Crimea will put pressure on the Kyiv Patriarchate community, representatives of the UOC-KP promise to request the intervention of both Ukraine and international organizations to protect the rights of believers.
“I still have the impression that the Crimean occupation authorities fear the relevant international and public response to the obvious local pressure on the Kyiv Patriarchate. For example, candid persecution of the UOC-KP may affect the attitude to Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine. For example, when in spring of 2014 our church in Perevalne was captured by the so-called “self-defense of Crimea,” there was a wave of indignation in Ukraine, which, I believe, the Russian authorities took into account in a certain way ,” Archbishop Yevstratii added.
