Thank you very much for this valuable material [on the impact of the Ukrainian conflict on church life: East-West Church and Ministry Report 23 (Summer 2015): 1-11]. I do think more effort should be made to define “harassment” of Moscow Patriarch churches in western and central Ukraine. Since congregations have the right to church buildings in Ukraine and a large exodus of believers from the Moscow Patriarchate to the Kyiv Patriarchate is underway in these regions, believers are exercising their right to religious freedom and freedom of conscience in transferring their parishes. Hence, items such as that of 5 February 2015 in which “Patriarch Kirill recounted the seizure of 18 UOMP churches in multiple regions” must be examined carefully. Generally the Moscow Patriarchate labels all transfers of its parishes [in Ukraine] as “seizures.”
We need to know if congregations had followed proper legal proceedings and if pro-Moscow believers and priests had refused to turn over buildings or permit joint use. Sawing off locks on a building that has legally been transferred would not be harassment, or could be viewed as the Moscow Patriarchate refusing to abide by legal transfers. Still I do not condone acts or harassment of believers and priests of the Moscow Patriarchate of violence against them. It is likely that more parishes will seek to transfer in the future, and it is very important to have a full picture of who is harassing whom and whose freedom of religion is affected.
Clearly, the rights of Moscow Patriarchate believers who in many villages in Western Ukraine are now minorities must be defended. But, for example, as far as I know the Turka Church congregation had legally transferred and the resistance of the Moscow Patriarchate priest and his followers could be seen as seizure and harassment. At any rate, these data must be examined carefully and each case individually. Conflict is likely to occur because of the identification of village communities with “their” churches (and the legal situation) at a time when the Moscow Patriarchate is losing support in western and central Ukraine.
Frank Sysyn, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Toronto