His Eminence Metropolitan of Cherkasy and Kaniv of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Mr. Theodosius, gave an exclusive interview to the church news agency Romfea. gr. a few days after he was beaten by members of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” while they were seizing the Cathedral Church of the Holy Archangel Michael in the city of Cherkasy. In the interview, Bishop Theodosius answers questions about the situation in Ukraine, autocephaly, the seizure of churches and the beatings of clergy and believers, and also addresses His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
Full text of His Eminence’s interview
– Your Eminence, I cannot help but ask you first of all about your state of health after you were severely beaten by members of the Autocephalous Church of Ukraine…
Dear Mr. Polygeny, thank you for your question. Now I feel much better. First, after a concussion and burns to my eyes and skin, I had to be bedridden for some time at the request of the doctors. But now, thank God, I have almost fully recovered. I am grateful to God that I managed to get away with only a concussion that day. After all, according to well-known criminologists who studied the footage of the attack, the purpose of hitting me on the head with a staff by a representative of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” was deliberate murder. Only a strong monastic “klobuk” mitigated the concussion from the blow.

– Tell me, how did you experience and survive these tragic events in the Cathedral Church of St. Michael? How did we even get to this point in 2024 when, before our eyes, the metropolitan becomes a victim of a brutal beating?

– I will tell you honestly, Mr. Polygeni, that we have not yet fully experienced these events. Until now, it seems to all of us that this could not have happened in the modern world, in the 21st century… Especially by people who call themselves Christians. But it happened. Here we are not even talking about a total violation of the constitutional rights of our believers – citizens of Ukraine. And it is not even about a brutal violation of the inviolable right to private property. After all, until now, both the Cathedral Church of Cherkasy (the largest Orthodox church in Ukraine) and the complex of buildings of the diocesan administration with all their contents are the private property of our diocese as a legal entity with the corresponding property documents. We also have a “State Land Act” for the land under our church complex. That’s not even the point.
What shocked and horrified us the most was the anger and hatred, the inhumanity with which representatives of the so-called “Ukrainian Orthodox Church” beat not only me, but also our priests, nuns and laypeople. With brutal screams, people from the OCU broke the arms, legs and ribs of the believers, threw them to the ground and beat them with their feet, pieces of stasidium and even church banners. They knocked out the teeth of the priests and shot the believers with traumatic weapons right in the temple of God and poisoned them with tear gas. This was accompanied by obscene curses and blasphemous cries. All this was recorded by video surveillance cameras. These events plunged not only the residents of Cherkasy, but also many people in Ukraine and around the world into shock and horror.
The so-called “clergy” of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” directly participated in this robbery as an organizer. And their leader in Cherkasy, the “metropolitan” of the OCU, Ivan Yaremenko, immediately after the violent robbery, posed for the public in my office, personally robbing my library. He did this without the slightest shame, and then posted his video on the Internet. Now this Yaremenko “serves” in the captured Cathedral Church, using the vestments of our clergy, my personal scepters, dikirs and trikirs, church paraphernalia.
In general, the “OCU” has once again shown its true face to the whole world. There is not even a hint of Christianity or Orthodoxy here.
– What is the current church situation in Ukraine?
– The situation is very difficult, Mr. Polygeni. The state authorities, using their special services, as well as the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”, which is completely under the control of the political regime, have carried out a real persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
It is similar to the persecutions that took place during the Soviet period of our history. The clergy are beaten and arrested, churches are taken away in favor of the “OCU”, after which the faithful stop going to them. The faithful themselves are often persecuted at work, and their children are mocked in schools. Some churches of our Church are even destroyed (in Kiev and Lviv), while others are in danger of being liquidated.
All this is done with the approval and with the direct participation of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”, which is a faithful servant of the current authorities and a beneficiary of the persecution of our Church. The situation almost one hundred percent repeats the events of a hundred years ago, when the “Red Church” of the Renewalists, on the orders of the Bolshevik government, helped the Soviets in destroying the true Church.
Unfortunately, Mr. Polygeny, we now live in such conditions in Ukraine. However, the situation is not the same in all regions of the country: in some places it is better, in others it is worse.
– Was there, after all, any benefit from granting autocephaly?

– We cannot talk about the benefits, there are none. We can only talk about colossal harm. The 2019 Tomos brought a sea of ​​tears, sorrow, blood and suffering of believers into the church life of Ukraine.

With the stroke of a pen, a real monster was launched into the ranks of world Orthodoxy – the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”, which has very little in common with Christianity – only an outer shell, external outlines.

This may sound harsh, but after the events in Cherkasy, I think I have the moral right to call a spade a spade. This monster is now trying to destroy the Orthodox Church in our country. He is angry and merciless, he uses all the tools of the state machine, not holding back from anything.

But the worst thing, Mr. Polygeni, is that all this is hidden behind church vestments and the 2019 Tomos on Autocephaly, and this is terrible! And this horror cannot be ignored, because it is a spiritual infection! Having done its job in Ukraine, it will begin to destroy our entire Orthodox family – the structure of universal Orthodoxy. And it has already begun. This cannot be allowed, because all of us, the Orthodox hierarchs of the world, are responsible before God for the historical fate of the Holy Orthodox Church!

– What would you say to those primates and hierarchs of Orthodox Churches who have not had the opportunity to experience what you are experiencing now in Ukraine?

– Knowing that hundreds of thousands of Orthodox believers from all over the world, including primates of local Orthodox Churches, hierarchs, clergy, monastics and laity. read the church news agency Romfea. gr, with pain I will express my humble opinion on the situation that is unfolding today in Ukraine and in Orthodoxy throughout the world, as well as on the ways of its possible resolution.

Addressing His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, I would like to ask His Holiness to accept my words without bitterness and resentment. In no case do I wish to show disrespect for his high rank and authority in the Orthodox world. I ask him to accept my words, as the man of God Balaam accepted the words spoken through the mouth of a foolish donkey.

“Your Holiness, unfortunately, it happened that you made a big mistake in Ukraine!

You made a mistake in your decisions, as anyone can make a mistake, even one who is endowed by God with a high rank and rich experience. The fruits of these mistakes are being reaped today not only by the believers of Ukraine, but also by the entire Orthodox world, which is on the verge of a schism similar to the schism of 1054. Ukrainian schismatics must not be allowed into the fold of the Church under any circumstances without repentance and subsequent legal ordination. It is quite certain that a significant part of the Orthodox hierarchs of the whole world will never, neither now nor in the future, accept these people and their followers as legitimate bishops. If anyone thinks otherwise, then he is seriously mistaken!

A fatal mistake was also the attempt to canonically break up the spiritual Body of the Church since the Baptism of Holy Prince Vladimir, that is, the Russian Orthodox Church, by formally “depriving” the power of a 300-year-old document. Paper is dead and soulless; while the body of the Church is alive, and even when they try to tear it, blood flows.

Now we all have to somehow solve these very painful problems. And it is necessary for our generations to solve them, and not to leave this difficult task to descendants. After all, the more this painful status quo becomes ossified, the tighter the Gordian knot in Orthodoxy will become.

The epicenter of the pan-Orthodox church conflict is now in Ukraine. There are military operations here today and bloody persecutions of the Church have been launched. Therefore, this problem cannot be adequately resolved until these tragic events end. Only after the end of the war in Ukraine, after the liberation of our Church from the yoke of state repression, will the bishops, clergy and monastics of Ukraine be able to freely express their opinion and state their position on the canonical issues of the existence of the Church in Ukraine.

Today, for one disagreement, for one mention of the spiritual and historical kinship of Ukrainian believers with the Russian Orthodox Church, not only church property can be lost, but also freedom, health, and sometimes life itself. In such conditions of repression, resolving the Ukrainian church dilemma would be tantamount to plundering during the war. Which, in general, is what is happening now.

I do not exclude that the resolution of such a complex and painful problem as the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” will require the fraternal opinion of other Local Orthodox Churches – either in the form of a consensus at a meeting of delegations of all universally recognized Local Orthodox Churches, or even at a session of a Pan-Orthodox Council, the provisions of which must necessarily correspond to the provisions of the ancient Holy Councils.

It is essential that at such a Consultation or Council, from the very beginning, the presence of church groups whose apostolic succession is not recognized by at least one of the universally recognized Local Orthodox Churches be excluded. Also, all decisions must be made exclusively within the framework of the holy canons and rules of the Holy Orthodox Church and with respect for the historically established territories of the Local Churches.

Today, in the already existing unfavorable circumstances, the most painless and acceptable scenario for ending the canonical discord between the Churches could be a temporary suspension by Your Holiness of the Tomos that you issued for the “OCU”, as well as a general moratorium on the concelebration and involvement of the Orthodox clergy in this religious structure (OCU). This could not only alleviate the tension between the local Churches, but would also help us all return to Eucharistic communion among ourselves – a pledge of peace and unanimity. This would prevent the further spread of schism in world Orthodoxy, and at least slow down the persecution of Christians in Ukraine today.

This is within your power and within your jurisdiction, Your Holiness.

At the same time, the problem of the “OCU” itself and everything related to this problem could be resolved after the end of the war in Ukraine on the basis of the canonical rules of the Holy Orthodox Church, as previously stated.”

Also, within the framework of this interview, addressing the Orthodox hierarchs from many countries, I would first of all like to thank you for the prayers and words of support that you have sent to the humble Cherkasy flock and to me personally after the tragic events of October 17.

There were many such words of encouragement and comfort from the entire Orthodox world.

Every one of your support, whether public or in personal correspondence and telephone conversations, was extremely valuable to us! In this support of yours, the Lord gave me a clear sense of the catholicity and universality of our Holy Orthodox Church throughout the world! In return, I beg you, saints of Christ, on behalf of all the suffering Orthodox people of Ukraine: do not forget our Church in your prayers! Here we do not lose hope that our believers, through the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, will be able to worthily pass this difficult life test.

– In conclusion, Your Eminence, I would like to ask. at what stage is the criminal prosecution against you?

– Five criminal cases have been initiated against me at the moment, four trials are underway in different courts in the cities of Cherkasy and Kiev.

All these persecutions, dear Mr. Polygeny, are being carried out against me because of my verbal defense of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which includes official interviews on national television channels of Ukraine over the past ten years.

In these courts, all the “victims” are “priests” of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”, who have written and are writing reports against me to the Secret Intelligence Service of Ukraine (SBU). After the churches in my diocese were seized, it was these informants, the “clergy” of the “OCU”, who became the new “owners” of the seized churches. This “mechanism” operates with the help of special services.

I have been under house arrest for about two years, most of the time I was under 24-hour arrest, now I am under night arrest. The SBU tried three times to arrest me and put me in pre-trial detention, but, fortunately, the courts did not allow it, leaving me under house arrest.

At the moment, there is no end in sight to these judicial investigations. But I believe that the Lord is allowing all this for the benefit of my soul.

Thank God for everything!

Translation by Ivan Lubenko

Source: https://www.romfea.gr/epikairotita-xronika/66568-romfea-gr