I have been persecuted for my faith
Metropolitan Arseniy, the abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra, has spoken exclusively to The Independent urging the UK to use its influence to stop the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Metropolitan Arseniy of Svyatogorsk | Ukrainian Schism
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is facing a great trial. Our holy temples and shrines have been destroyed, and our priests and parishioners are being killed in the war. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government seeks to ban the church. Priests are being wrongfully arrested, and our places of worship are being seized and taken from us.
The authorities in Ukraine unfairly accuse the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of being a mouthpiece of Russian propaganda. Nothing is further from the truth. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is a one-thousand-year-old Christian denomination. Its churches and monasteries are world renowned. We do not preach any ideology. We preach the good news of God’s promise of forgiveness from sin.
We of the Sviatohirsk Lavra have suffered with our fellow Ukrainian citizens during the war. Our local parishioners fight on the front lines and our historic monastery has been badly damaged by bombing. However, the monks have persevered, and they continue to support those displaced by the conflict. Located just 15 kilometres from the front lines in Eastern Ukraine, the community provides shelter and food to those most at risk.
Despite all the good that our monastery has done, the authorities seek to undo our hard work. The government has mounted a campaign to strip the monastery from us. Meanwhile, I have been persecuted for my faith and detained in jail. In violation of the law and criminal procedure of Ukraine, I have been detained in a prison facility for nearly six months. My court hearings offer no hope of respite.
Over the summer, I was forced to travel eight hours from where I am held in Dnipro to reach Sloviansk, the location of the court, a town close to the front lines. The vehicle often had no air-conditioning, and I suffocated in the summer heat. I was handcuffed for the duration of the journey and denied water and food. Once the hearings were over, I was forced to travel back to Dnipro in the same conditions.