Archpriest Ihor Sava and parishionersof the Church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope and Charity and their mother Sophia in Zaporizhia sent an open letter to Metropolitan Onufriyof Kyiv and All Ukraine, in which they expressed surprise at the recent act of the three bishops of the UOC in the Ukrainian Parliament.
It was reported by KyivanRus website.
“Your Eminence, your actions in Parliament imply that Ukraine is to blame for the ongoing war ... You have put us all in jeopardythrough your actions on May 8,”state the authors of the letter signed by 36 parishioners and the church rector.
Below is the full text of the letter as translated from Russian:
“Your Beatitude!
We, the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP), are forced to turn to you, because we were confused by the demonstration of disrespect for the twenty-one heroes of Ukraine, ten of which already gave their lives for their country.
Speaking of “confusion” we do not mean indignation, neither we demand an answer, but rather express misunderstanding. We are the churched people and respect our pastors. We understand the difficult situation of the hierarchs, and even more so the Primate of the Church, in the current circumstances of the conflict in which both opposing parties call themselves Orthodox. Nevertheless, we also understand the degree of responsibility of a shepherd to the flock, because people entrust their primate withleadership in the most important: in determining good and evil, salvation and destruction.
Your Beatitude, your actions in Parliament imply that Ukraine is to blame for the ongoing war. But it is a lie. We all remember that the war began with the seizure of Russian military administrative buildings in Simferopol and subsequent annexation of the Crimea (even the Russian leadership recognizes it) continued seizure of administrative buildings of the Russian special forces in Donbas and uninterrupted supply of military equipment and manpower to terrorists. None of us supports the war, we are all for its immediate cessation. However, in our conditions, ceasing to defend ourselves against aggression by Russia, is tantamount to spread the flames of war throughout the country, this is particularly evident for us, the inhabitants of the frontline areas.
Your Beatitude, we are Orthodox Christians and do not want our faith to be determined by someone's political or, even worse, geopolitical interests, someone's civilizational preferences. The Lord sent his disciples to all countries, without distinguishing between different civilizations. On the contrary, we want to be guided only by the law of God, with its clear distinction between the concepts. In terms of the Law of God, the incitement of the population to aggression and the subsequent attack on another country is evil, and the protection of one’s country is good.
Your Beatitude, You put us all at riskthrough your actions on May 8. Now our compatriots even more strengthened in the belief that the Moscow Patriarchate is the fifth column in Ukraine.But we are not the “fifth column”. We are Christians and citizens of Ukraine, and so we pray for our heroes and bow our heads before them.
With sincere love for Your Beatitude.
Archpriest Ihor Sava, rector of the Church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope and Charity and their mother Sophia, Zaporizhia.”