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Following the rubles seems to be a reliable predictor of where a given Patriarchate will stand on the question of Ukrainian autocephaly.

A May 19, 2019 report by Russia’s Union of Orthodox “Journalists”—arguably the Moscow Patriarchate’s most loyal peddler of propaganda after the Department for External Church Relations itself—cites the following statement by Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem, delivered by his proxy to the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society and published on the Patriarchate’s website.

The Patriarch’s statement is remarkable for two reasons: first, while Jerusalem is lauded as “the Mother of the Churches” in our liturgical hymnography, we question where in Orthodox tradition the Patriarchate derives its self-designation as the guarantor of the unity of the Orthodox Church; and second, Theophilus makes no attempt to hide his reliance on Russian money as he heaps praise on Vladimir Putin and—as the UOJ is keen to point out—rejects the autocephaly of, and eucharistic communion with, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem

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Cardinal Raymond Burke speaks at a pro-life and pro-family conference in Rome on May 17, 2019. (National Catholic Reporter)

Back in February of this year, Pope Francis asked Catholics who have had the “joy” of assisting migrants and refugees to “proclaim it from the rooftops, openly, to help others do the same, preparing themselves to encounter Christ and His salvation.” (February 15, 2019 in Sacrofano, Italy at the conference entitled, “Welcoming Communities: Free of Fear”) 

Although a limited experience, I have shared in this joy, welcoming immigrants to the United States. In my own Catholic diocese, I helped resettle a Laotian family and an Islamic family from Northern Africa. For me, this welcome took the form of an American and his pickup truck—as that was my role—collecting donated furniture from parishes and delivering it to their new homes. And joy describes it aptly: arriving with truckloads of furniture and appliances while grateful recipients helped me to unload and carry in the contents of their growing households, building their new lives in the US.

This for me is patriotism. Read More

Editor’s Note [at the Kyiv Post]: As Ukraine gets set to inaugurate its sixth president on May 20, the Kyiv Post is asking Ukrainians and those with Ukrainian ancestry who live abroad to send in their pictures (horizontal mug shots, please) with answers to the following three questions for publication. Please keep responses brief — no more than 200 words for each answer or 600 words in all. Include contact details for verification as well as full name, occupation and country of residence. A selection of respondents will be published periodically before Volodymyr Zelenskiy is sworn in as president. Send responses/photos with the subject header “Ukrainian Voices From Abroad” to Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner at bonner@kyivpost.com.

Giacomo Sanfilippo

As I noted previously on these pages, the remarkable fact that three-fourths of a predominantly Orthodox Christian nation should cast its vote for a Jewish candidate over against an Orthodox incumbent serves as a clarion call—in a very positive way—for the newly organized Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) to adopt a more appropriate paradigm for church-state relations than the imperialist model inherited from centuries of Russian occupation. My advice to the OCU has been to work with government toward creating a more just society where all citizens and visitors feel welcome, regardless of religious affiliation, ethnic origin, language of preference, socioeconomic status, political persuasion, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.

My advice to Zelenskiy is to respect and work with the deep religiosity of the vast majority of his constituency, not only Orthodox but also Jewish, Muslim, Greek-Catholic, Roman Catholic, Armenian Apostolic, and Protestant—all of the faith communities represented by the All Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (AUCCRO). Take the initiative to meet and enter into sustained dialogue with them, not only one on one with the individual religious bodies but with the AUCCRO as a group. Enlist them as allies in the pursuit of social justice and the common good for all Ukrainians. Assure them that their support for liberalizations in the social sphere will not infringe on their doctrines and practices within their own communities of faith. Read More