Ukrainian Orthodoxy at a Crossroads

Metropolitan Agafangel, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad

August 20 / September 2, 2024

 

The law banning the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine, on the one hand, can be understood — it is a kind of protection against an entire army of ideological "useful idiots" in favor of Putin's Moscow, as well as regular FSB agents and active officers of this service operating under the cover of the Moscow Church. But at the same time, unfortunately, it is the ordinary believing people who suffer first and foremost from this law. Therefore, I do not believe that banning everything and everyone is the right solution. Even in the USSR, faith and believers were not banned, no matter how much the God-fighting authorities desired it. In the USSR, lacking the ability to physically destroy the Church, they came up with the idea of taking full control over the hierarchy of the Moscow Patriarchate, and this was done in a Soviet-style scientific, professional manner and by many methods. I am inclined to suppose that in Ukraine they are now trying to repeat this Soviet experience and do something similar, but to "re-recruit" all those who have already been recruited is probably very difficult, or rather, completely impossible under the current circumstances.

It is known, and not subject to any doubt, that all senior bishops in the Soviet Union were, without exception, KGB agents (some, as reported, were even active officers), who had signed a pledge to serve the God-fighters. KGB agents also included, among others, the rectors of major churches and the abbots of well-known monasteries (especially those visited by foreign guests), laypeople useful to the satanic cause, as well as all church figures who crossed the borders of the USSR. Without cooperation with the KGB, a career in the Moscow Patriarchate was unthinkable during Soviet times. Those who desired a career (as well as those caught in various crimes and violations, but who intended to remain in leadership positions in the MP), upon becoming agents, carried out all special assignments of the “organs,” wrote reports on conversations and contacts with others (most often these were denunciations of one another), through which the authorized representative knew absolutely everything that was happening in the diocese and what views this or that representative held. The KGB-FSB also collected and continues to collect to this day “compromising material” for blackmail and maintaining control over representatives of the MP — it was precisely for this purpose that the God-fighting Soviet regime deliberately “rewarded” the hierarchy of the Moscow Patriarchate with all conceivable and inconceivable vices (at one time, in the early 2000s, MP Protopriest Nikolai Balashov brought to Odessa, for a meeting with me, an entire folder of collected compromising material on clerics who had joined us in the ROCOR from the MP — that is, they collect information there on everyone). To responsible “positions” are promoted, as a rule, only people who are in one way or another compromised, that is, completely controllable, who, due to the compromising material held against them, will never act contrary to their superiors (even though, to deceive simple people, KGB agents often stage a pre-arranged performance about supposed disagreements between “dissident priests” and the current authorities). To this day, at the very least, the entire “old guard” of the MP is a product of the activity of this Soviet God-fighting practice.

Those who, by their scale, went beyond the bounds of a diocese were dealt with directly by the 5th Directorate of the KGB. But even any ordinary priest could not serve in a parish of the Moscow Patriarchate, even in a rural one, unless he received registration from the Commissioner for Religious Affairs. And the commissioner closely scrutinized whom he granted registration to — permission "to work in the church" — tested them, offered cooperation. The revocation of registration from a priest who had become undesirable meant the impossibility for him to serve in the diocese overseen by that commissioner. He would have to move to another diocese or look for secular employment.

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Such was the practice of control over the Church in the USSR, through which any instructions of the Kremlin’s God-fighters were carried out within the Moscow Patriarchate, and which today has its natural continuation in the Russian Federation (since there has been no repentance — and even more so, no fruits of repentance — for collaboration with the God-fighters within the MP, nor is any foreseen). As a result of such a past and present, the Church in the Russian Federation, through its agent network and the compromising materials accumulated by the KGB-FSB on all key representatives, remains to this day under the complete control and management of state structures, and willy-nilly, "not out of fear, but out of conscience," faithfully serves them. Likewise, naturally, parts of the Moscow Patriarchate located in countries that were formerly part of the USSR are under Kremlin control through the church hierarchy. For example, in Ukraine. It is unlikely that this system can be broken now or in the near future. Today, this Soviet “background” restrains Ukrainian bishops from breaking away from the Kremlin — only if the Kremlin releases them, having first stipulated their behavior in the future, will they be able to fulfill what is being demanded of them by the competitors of the Kremlin’s globalists through the government of Ukraine.

Of course, what is said here is, without any exaggeration, our common tragedy, but we must see and know the sorrowful "spiritual legacy" that the USSR left behind, and with which we have to live today.

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It is absolutely obvious that in Soviet times there was submission of the Church not to Christ, but directly to a state power hostile to Christ. This is the path of non-canonical (non-patristic) Orthodoxy, no matter how often representatives of the MP call themselves the "canonical Church."

Of course, the fact of the subordination of the hierarchy of the Moscow Patriarchate to external forces will never be acknowledged, due to the absence of repentance, and it will continue trying to present itself as a flawless leadership, crystal clear and "always right." The Second Commandment of Moses warns: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image." From this it also follows that one must not make an idol out of oneself — the hierarchy of the MP, consciously or unconsciously, attempts to present itself as such idols — almost every priest or bishop there appears as an idol-proclaimer, proclaiming directly "from God." The Soviet government formed from the higher clergy of the MP a separate caste with a strict hierarchy, living according to its own internal, but by no means divine, laws. Moreover, this internal caste of the MP (akin to the sect of the Pharisees in the time of Christ, or in our time — a Masonic lodge in the West or the nomenklatura in the USSR) parasitizes the Orthodox church people, which also includes simple monastics and clergy.

By the way — unlike the Moscow Patriarchate, all bishops and priests of ROCOR were equal to their parishioners.

Truly believing people must not be deceived into thinking that the Moscow Patriarchate is supposedly that very Church which existed for centuries on our land. The present Moscow Church is, in the most literal sense, a modern fabrication, created by the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and his aides for the purpose of combating the true Church of Christ, as well as to serve the interests of his communist doctrine. And in the absence of repentance, it remains such.

Of course, to great sorrow, it is practically impossible for modern parishioners of the MP to accept this: the implanted false principles — "obedience is higher than fasting and prayer" (meaning, of course, obedience to the church hierarchy), and "watch yourself and do not judge the hierarchy" — have spiritually harmed the faithful of the MP. Yes, obedience could be higher than fasting and prayer, but this was practiced long ago in some ancient monasteries, in cases where a true spiritual father was present. Also, we are indeed not given the right to judge, but this does not mean that we should not discern what is good and what is evil, in order to strive toward God and turn away from sin — without discernment today, salvation is impossible. If one lives without discernment, then what is happening now in the MP will occur — believers are forced to justify (and therefore share in the weight of the sin) and turn a blind eye to sodomy within their hierarchy, to their luxurious and shamelessly immoral way of life, and to all other transgressions — and at the same time deceive themselves, thinking that they are supposedly being saved in the "canonical Church."

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The greatest misfortune of contemporary Orthodoxy is its merging with politics. The Church began as a union of people in Christ alone, beyond state borders and nations, entirely unbound by any territory or external civil authority. Later, in the 4th century, the civil authority itself entered the Church and became within the Church a part of the Church. Then the “Constantinian era” — the time of the reign of Orthodox Emperors — came to an end. Today, there are not only no rulers anointed by the Church for kingship, but there are no rulers in the world who even simply believe in Christ God, let alone observe His Commandments. In the 20th century, civil authority exited the Church and became extremely hostile to it. Yet its decisive influence on the Church, unfortunately, it retained and even strengthened — and this influence on the Church from outside is today absolutely unacceptable, categorically unacceptable. The true Church must conclude the era of the New Testament with what it began — independence from all forces except Christ. Otherwise, it is not the Church whose Head is Christ. All the more so, we know from Holy Scripture that in the times of the Antichrist, the true Church, as displeasing to the authorities, will be cruelly persecuted, while the harlot-church will triumph and enjoy all benefits and honors.

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Before the God-fighting revolution in the Russian Empire, steps were taken to strengthen true conciliarity in the Orthodox Church, to return it to the apostolic, early Christian times. The Local Council of 1917–1918 did a great deal in this direction. Functioning parish and diocesan assemblies appeared, possessing supreme authority in parishes and dioceses, as well as bodies of parish and diocesan administration that included laypeople. Parishes acquired property and management, making them more self-sufficient and independent. Bishops for vacant sees were elected at diocesan and metropolitan assemblies and then confirmed at the general Council of the Church. As a rule, people chose those who were truly the best and most worthy, which was confirmed in practice, although this system under Soviet rule did not last long at all.

A little later, in 1920, the last Decree of the fullness of the Russian Local Church appeared: of the Holy Patriarch, the Holy Synod, and the Supreme Church Council of the Orthodox Russian Church, No. 362, which regulated — and continues to regulate to this day — the life of the One Local Church under conditions of persecution. In the spirit of this Decree, we live even today. It is the last valid Decree of the entire fullness of the Russian Church; after it, there were and can be no other Decrees applying to the whole Church.

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The Church founded by Christ, in its very essence, must be free from any external influence: "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear Him" (Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 3:22; Luke 9:35). That is, the Father entrusted the Church to His Son, not to any other ruler: not to a minister or a commissioner for religious affairs, or to anyone else — especially not to one appointed by atheists or God-fighters. The Son of God chose the Apostles, they ordained bishops — and in this way authority in the Church extends to this day. Nowhere is provision made for outsiders to interfere in the structure of church life. Apart from bishops in the dioceses, elected by church assemblies and confirmed by the acting church hierarchy, and their assistants — the assemblies of dioceses and parishes, and the priests appointed by the bishops — no other authority in the Church of God is envisioned. Therefore, in every case of external interference, the church canons require the deposition of those who were installed with the help of civil power.

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The true Orthodox Church, which remained free and did not enter into cooperation with the God-fighters, was in the 20th century scattered and destroyed on the territory of the USSR, with very few exceptions. The remnant of the Catacomb Church joined ROCOR as soon as a real opportunity for reunification appeared (as required by Decree No. 362). Living in the USSR, the secret, true Church developed its own rules of concealment and survival, which allowed a small part of it to endure until the fall of the Soviet Union. However, the years of Soviet rule were incompatible with spiritual life — within a short time (in practice, within one generation), full spiritual life, unfortunately, as a rule, perished under the influence of the prevailing God-fighting communist spirit, which, like a poison spread through the air, destroys all that is alive in a person’s soul. It is known that the reign of the Antichrist over the whole earth will last 3.5 years, and due to the shortness of the time, a very small remnant of the faithful will survive until the Last Judgment. The time has now come for the Orthodox Church to prepare in the most serious way for the approach of the final, apocalyptic persecutions — they have already long since begun in the spiritual realm, in the form of worldwide opposition to Christ.

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The only truly correct way out for the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine would be to depart from its odious hierarchy — one that refuses to repent for its cooperation with forces external to the Church (that is, the governing body of the MP, a caste of Soviet-era church leaders created during the God-fighting USSR, or more precisely, an outwardly Orthodox "Masonic lodge") — and to replace it with individuals elected from among the faithful, intelligent and conscientious people, including clergy.

Before the communist revolution in the Russian Empire, there were social estates, and among them was the spiritual estate. In contrast to this, the USSR formed in the midst of the faithful a caste of church leadership selected and privileged by it, entirely transferred into the service of the God-fighters and internally deeply corrupted. Through this caste of patriarchal hierarchy, forces external to the Church control and govern the believing people, much like in the Soviet army commanders kept soldiers in submission through a designated and encouraged category of “old men.” In the Church of Christ, there can be and must not be such an unnatural-to-Christians priestly caste — “old men” set apart and appointed to oversee the simple faithful people.

Only the Church itself — the believing people — can put forward from their midst their own priests and bishops, and also oversee them — to observe their integrity and depose the unworthy. Unfortunately, in the Moscow Patriarchate there is no such possibility, nor can there be. The Soviet period of life turned Christians, once free in God, into serfs of the “trusted persons” appointed by the godless authorities, and the modern period of life has entrenched this distortion and made it a settled tradition of the present post-Soviet church. One does not need to be a prophet to foresee that the religious crisis in Ukraine, though frozen for a time, will in the end “successfully” be resolved by an agreement between external globalist groups, while the believing people and the ordinary clergy will be used merely as one of many arguments by the negotiating parties — like one of many minor chess pieces in the global game.

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However, it is quite possible that a small portion of the faithful, by God’s providence, having accomplished their inner struggle, will come out of this hellish "spiritual cauldron" that has formed on the land of Ukraine — and it is precisely they who will become the true Church, following after Christ.

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The true canonical path for the contemporary Ukrainian Church (as well as for any other Orthodox Church, including the Moscow Patriarchate as a whole) is the path of decisive liberation from all, even the slightest, external influence, for the sake of serving Christ alone. There is no other path for the Church of Christ, nor can there be.

 

Russian source: http://odessa.ruschurchabroad.org/ru/mitropolit-agafangel-ukrainskoe-pravoslavie-na-rasput-e