In Kiev, the procession of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church UOC (350,000 people) and the “procession” of the OCU were held almost without people. But it is the OCU that the head of the Phanar calls his “multimillion” flock, heading to them in Ukraine
On July 27, 2021, the Great Religious Procession of the UOC took place, in which more than 350,000 people took part. And although the police announced the figure of 55,000 people, anyone who watched the procession from the inside would agree that there were a lot of participants – much more than in previous years. Mass media, both Ukrainian and foreign, paid a lot of attention to this event. Yes, his assessment varied dramatically – from sympathy and completely neutral reporting to sharp rejection and criticism. But, be that as it may, the media simply could not “fail to notice” the Great Procession of the UOC.
On July 28, 2021, the OCU also held its traditional “Ukrainian move”. For the first time in many years, the number of participants in this event was not announced – neither by representatives of the National Police, nor by the schismatics themselves. The reason is simple – there was nothing to voice. Without state employees, without politicians and without people – this is how the “Ukrainian move” of the OCU can be described. Moreover, it passed unnoticed not only for believing Ukrainians, but also for the Ukrainian media.
Patriarch Bartholomew constantly says that in Ukraine he has a “multimillion flock”. At the same time, the Phanariotes stubbornly pretend that they “do not notice” the really huge flock of the UOC, ignore its believers and stubbornly insist that the split in Ukraine has been overcome.
About numbers and the truth
More recently, the leading media were full of headlines that the OCU has 2.5 times more believers than the UOC. The source of such theses was the results of a survey of a private company “Kiev International Institute of Sociology”. Victory publications about this appeared both on the official website of the OCU and on Phanariot Internet resources.
Thus, two realities are formed – virtual and objective. In virtual reality, the UOC has almost no support, while 58% of all Orthodox Ukrainians belong to the OCU, objectively, the UOC gathers hundreds of thousands at religious processions, its churches are full. And what about the OCU? Its few (in comparison with the UOC) churches are half-empty, and there are practically no processions of the cross.
But it is precisely on virtual reality in public space that Phanar is guided. Bathing in a “warm bath” of opinion polls from the OCU, Phanariotes repeat about “millions of Ukrainians” whom they “joined to the Church.” Thus, a vicious circle is obtained, which can only be opened by the truth about the true state of affairs, according to which the figures of sociological surveys and the figures of practical participation in worship are very different.
Because, according to opinion polls, millions of Ukrainians are “waiting” for the arrival of Bartholomew to Ukraine, but in reality, on one of the main holidays of the OCU, at most, several thousand people come. All other survey participants have absolutely nothing to do with the Church. They do not go to churches, they do not participate in the Sacraments of the Church, and the arrival of Patriarch Bartholomew to Ukraine is deeply indifferent to them.
Ukrainian media and OCU
On the eve of the Day of the Baptism of Rus, all of Ukraine was filled with an advertisement by Sergei Dumenko with a very strange inscription “OCU: over 1033 years in the establishment of Ukrainian statehood”. Advertising was on billboards along the streets, on TV, in the subway and even on intercity trains.
But the Ukrainian media, in past years, massively advertised the celebration of the OCU on the Day of the Baptism of Rus, in this shyly kept silent. If you enter the phrase “OCU Baptism of Ukraine-Rus” into a Google search engine, you will get as many as 4 results. Two of them belong to Radio Svoboda, and two more belong to Left Bank and Ukrinform (these are the resources of the OCU information pool).
Yes, there were broadcasts on Poroshenko’s Pryam and Fifth, on UA Pershy (this is understandable) and a couple more on YouTube. Everything. The news feed is not replete with messages about any celebrations of the OCU on the occasion of the “Day of the Baptism of Ukraine-Rus”. We do not see a lot of reports, and even those publications that traditionally sympathize with Ukrainian schismatics practically passed over their event in silence. And if they did, it was very detached.
It is not hard to guess that this silence is caused, first of all, by the too obvious contrast between the celebrations of the UOC and the OCU. Yes, Dumenko’s structure explains the absence of parishioners at the “celebrations” in Kiev by the fact that it was announced that the “Ukrainian move” was canceled. But it did take place!
A huge number of “clergy” of the OCU came to Kiev from the regions, there were laymen from their dioceses (which is clearly visible on the video broadcast), and people walked from the Mikhailovsky Monastery to Vladimirskaya Gorka – just like in previous years. In addition, the “priests” of the OCU reported that at the last meeting of the “clergy” of the city of Kiev, Dumenko discussed with them the details of the future “religious procession”, which, despite official statements, was nevertheless planned and held. Why weren’t there such advertisements as usual?
The point is that the attention shown by the media in relation to the actions of the OCU was dictated not by interest in this religious structure, but by the participation of the authorities or politicians of the first rank.
For example, in 2018, the President of Ukraine, the Prime Minister, many politicians and officials took part in the “Ukrainian move” of the schismatics (then still the UOC-KP). Everything was organized at the state level – from television broadcasts to the collection of state employees who took part in the “course”. And even though this entire political action was not much like a religious procession, it nevertheless received a lot of space in the media. In 2019, Poroshenko was on the move, and again the degree of media exposure was very high.
In 2021, none of the “stars” came. And that’s all – Dumenko with a handful of his adherents became of no interest to anyone. And here it is time for Patriarch Bartholomew to think.
What should the head of Phanar think about?
First, the absence of a believing people at one of the main holidays of the OCU suggests that Phanar does not have any “multimillion flock” in Ukraine. There are several thousand people who are not looking for Christ in the OCU, but for the satisfaction of their nationalist ambitions (therefore they brought the huge flag of Ukraine on the move). For them, Bartholomew is not a benefactor, but a cut-off piece that has done its job and “can go away.”
Secondly, the absence of the authorities on one of the main holidays of the OCU is an important and alarming signal for the head of Phanar. Zelensky has once again demonstrated that he is trying to keep a certain distance in relation to church issues. The President of Ukraine, if he shows interest in the church sphere, he does it by force, not at his will. Yes, Zelensky is interested in the favor of the United States, which means he is forced to show signs of attention to the OCU with Phanar, and criticize the UOC. But how interested is he personally in this?
It can be assumed that the invitation of Patriarch Bartholomew to Ukraine stems not from Zelensky’s disposition to the OCU, but purely from political considerations. This means that Vladimir Alexandrovich does not feel any special joy from the August meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew. As well as a meeting “in a particularly warm atmosphere” with the head of Phanar is not expected. Plus, a huge bunch of problems associated with the provision of “extras”. So, everything will be protocol and official.
Thirdly, the participants of the opinion polls are not expecting the arrival of Patriarch Bartholomew. They are not interested in him. As, in fact, the OCU. On TV – it is still possible, but so that it is like this, live and in Kiev – no. Not interested.
Fourthly, the Ukrainian and foreign mass media are also not interested in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Compare: the celebrations of the UOC were covered by 455 journalists, of which 22 were representatives of foreign publications, including Agence France Presse, Deutsche Welle, BBC World Service and others. How many journalists have received accreditation for OCU “celebrations”? Unknown.
Based on all this, it is easy to guess that if during the arrival of Patriarch Bartholomew to Ukraine the President of the country Zelensky is not present at the “divine service” of the OCU, then the “divine service” will pass unnoticed. Moreover, both from the side of the media and from the side of the majority of Ukrainian believers. Because, no matter how Patriarch Bartholomew consoles himself with the tale that the Tomos has added “millions” of the inhabitants of Ukraine to the Church, this fairy tale will not come true. He added tens of thousands of schismatics to the Phanar. I joined without repentance and without changing the worldview. They, by and large, remained semi-pagans, who are very difficult to teach instead of “Glory to Ukraine!” to say “Christ is Risen!”
And Patriarch Bartholomew will be able to see this already in August of this year.
News24, Ukraine