Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchin and Bratslav: The Lord Has Honored Me To Testify About Him

DECR – OCP News Service – 08/10/2024

Moscow- Russia: In October 2022, SBU officers conducted searches at the place of residence of Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchyn and Bratslav, and he was charged with inciting hatred on religious grounds. The hearing of the case in the Vinnytsia City Court began on June 5, 2023. On August 7, Metropolitan Jonathan was found guilty on all counts of state prosecution and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with confiscation of property. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia issued a statement condemning this unlawful decision. On August 9, 2023, His Holiness sent an appeal to the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches, a number of religious figures, and representatives of international organizations regarding the fabricated guilty verdict against Metropolitan Jonathan. On June 22, 2024, at the request of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill , the hierarch was released as a result of negotiations . On June 25, His Holiness met with the released bishop at the Danilov Monastery in Moscow. In a recent interview with media representatives, published by Patriarchia.ru , Metropolitan Jonathan spoke in detail about the absurdity of the charges brought against him and the gross falsifications during the trial, as well as the reasons for his persecution by the Ukrainian state.

• First of all, I congratulate you on your release. All your hardships are already behind you, and we are glad to welcome you to Russian soil.

Thank you. My heartfelt gratitude and deep bow to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, through whose intercession and prayers I was freed. I am also deeply grateful to all who contributed to my release.

• Without exaggeration, the entire Russian Church followed your arrest and subsequent trial. If it is not difficult for you to recall, tell us briefly about these events. How did it all begin?

– On October 11, 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine suddenly conducted searches at my place of residence and in the building of the Tulchin Diocese administration. They arrived early in the morning, turned everything upside down… The mandatory video recording of the search was not carried out in full: where necessary, the camera was turned on, and where it was not necessary, it was not turned on. And “found”, imagine. In the diocesan administration, they “found” several radical political leaflets – with calls for the overthrow of the government, the division of the country and other provocative slogans.

There is no video recording of how and where these leaflets were “found”. The policeman who “found” them stated in court that he “did not remember” where and how he found them. The witnesses in court were also confused, afraid and contradicted each other. They did not see where and how the evidence was found. The defense witnesses, my clergy, confirmed that they had not seen these leaflets before and were sure that they were not in my office.

They allegedly “found” leaflet files on my computer. But my computer was confiscated: investigators did whatever they wanted with it for almost a year. Even the creation dates of the “found” files are later than the date the computer was confiscated.

According to the investigation, I alone downloaded these radical leaflets from the Internet, printed them out on my printer – intentionally in several copies, to “weight down” my article. And then I snuck into the diocesan administration and hid them not in my office, but in the chancery – in a wardrobe, behind someone’s boots. Why? For what purpose? To distribute them to my clergy? To organize a revolution in my diocese, 500 kilometers from the front line?

Moreover, during the trial my lawyers conducted an examination. And they proved that the leaflets were printed not on a printer, but on a printing press: the paint and the method of its application are different. That is, to commit a crime, I needed to have a rotary machine at home! But the judge ignored all these arguments.

• So you think that provocative leaflets were planted on you during the search?

– I am absolutely sure of it. They planted it crudely, without trying too hard to cover their tracks. I have never printed or distributed political leaflets. My clergy, my flock, people who know me well, can confirm that I am, in principle, a person far removed from politics.

• What, in your opinion, is the reason for such attention to you from the Ukrainian special services? After all, this is, in essence, a labor-intensive special operation that requires the work of a large state machine: opening a criminal case, organizing a search, planting material evidence, putting pressure on the investigation and judges, creating a slanderous campaign in the media, achieving an unprecedented sentence… What have you done wrong to the Ukrainian state?

– I think the real reason for the sentence is my position on the Ukrainian schism. I have criticized it many times in public speeches. In Ukraine, it is currently forbidden to criticize the church schism and Patriarch Bartholomew. To publicly declare that schismatics do not have canonical ordinations is a criminal offense: Article 161, the so-called “violation of the equality of citizens.” The SBU has its own experts, they issue fictitious “linguistic examination” that you “incited hatred.” And on this “fake” basis, dozens of criminal cases and sentences are fabricated, including against bishops and clergy.

On January 3, 2022, I published an article on the diocesan website, “With an open helmet, without a visor. Notes on the margins of recent events in the Orthodox world,” criticizing the church schism and the actions of Patriarch Bartholomew in Ukraine. I wrote that the historical acts on the transfer of the Kyiv Metropolitanate to the Moscow Patriarchate were signed by Patriarch Dionysius and the Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1686 and are not subject to revision. That the real territory of the historical Kyiv Metropolitanate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople occupied barely a third of modern Ukraine. That the east and south of Ukraine – vast territories! – never belonged to the jurisdiction of the Church of Constantinople, and that all the dioceses there were historically created by the Russian Church. That the schismatic self-ordained bishops recognized by Constantinople without re-ordination do not have canonical ordinations and the grace of the episcopacy. And that the pressure that Patriarch Bartholomew exerted on other Local Churches, for example, on Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria, to achieve recognition of the Ukrainian schism, is unacceptable.

This publication of mine was one of the points of the indictment, and I also received a guilty verdict for it. In general, the verdict incriminates me for everything in a row. Even my old poems about Russia and the Russian Church (and I wrote the same poems about Ukraine) and publications in Russian media in my support.

• Then why did they plant leaflets on you during the search?

– To be on the safe side. The charge under Article 161 is weak and clearly political in nature, it can be challenged in court. And leaflets with radical political content are a serious state crime, you become an “enemy of Ukraine”. Judges are afraid to pass an acquittal under such articles.

• Were your judges afraid too?

– All four judges of our town Tulchin refused to hear the case and recused themselves. I think they saw that the case was fabricated. I was tried in the regional center, in Vinnytsia.

• What was the verdict?

– Five years of imprisonment with confiscation of property. We filed an appeal. While it was being considered, I was under house arrest.

• You say that political accusations make a person an “enemy of Ukraine.” Are you a citizen of Ukraine?

– I was. I and eleven other bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were deprived of citizenship in December 2022, even before my sentence was passed. Without trial or investigation, without legal grounds – only by a decree of President Zelensky. And even this list of bishops deprived of citizenship was not officially published, the state hid it: I and my brothers learned about this list from the media.

In addition, we were deprived of a whole range of rights. For example, I could not use bank accounts and cards, I had no right to health insurance or legal services, I could not even pay my own utility bills for housing. I lived on the alms of my believers and the clergy of my diocese. In Ukraine, these are called “sanctions” and they are used against their own citizens.

The Constitution of Ukraine, Article 25, directly states: “A citizen of Ukraine cannot be deprived of citizenship, … cannot be expelled from Ukraine.” But the Constitution is rarely mentioned there now.

When I was transferred to Russia, the papers signed by Budanov had it written in black and white: “enemy prisoner of war”. That is, I, a citizen of Ukraine, who had faithfully served the Ukrainian Church and the Ukrainian people all my life, was officially declared an enemy of the state, deprived of all rights, separated from my flock and thrown out of the country! This is lawlessness. The people of Ukraine are now silent, in the words of a classic. But the Ukrainian people will regain their voice. And then, I believe, they will have their say and restore justice. Those who are now in power and make such unlawful decisions will answer to their people and history.

• You say that the real reason for the criminal prosecution against you was criticism of the actions of Patriarch Bartholomew in Ukraine. But did it not occur to you to turn to him for support? Do you think that he approves of the actions of the authorities against you, against the episcopate of the UOC?

– You will be surprised, but he really approves. I was surprised, at least. Last October, Patriarch Bartholomew was, I think, in Spain, in Madrid, meeting with his clergy. And in the presence of many eyewitnesses, he declared that the criminal prosecution of the bishops and clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was fair and justified! He said that we all broke the law and must bear full responsibility.

This was written about in the Ukrainian media. And then in August I had already received a guilty verdict – completely fabricated, based on fictitious evidence. And I was shocked to the depths of my soul, I immediately wrote a response to Patriarch Bartholomew. They are taking away our holy places – churches and monasteries, our clergy and episcopate are imprisoned, our believers and clergy are beaten, all the Ukrainian media spit at us and mock us daily… And Patriarch Bartholomew says that all this is deserved, we must continue. Remember the words of the Psalmist David: “Let them immediately accept their shame who say to me: It is good, it is good” (Psalm 39.16)? I consider such a position blasphemy and false testimony in relation to the confessorial feat of our Church.

• According to the SBU, more than 100 criminal cases have been opened against archpastors and pastors of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, more than 26 sentences and 50 suspicions have been issued. How do you assess these statistics? Should we expect new sentences against the Orthodox clergy in Ukraine?

– I think the pressure on the Church will increase. But the persecutors are still afraid of international publicity, afraid of the reaction of the Primates and bishops of other Local Orthodox Churches, protests of international organizations. They are greatly hampered by criticism from Western politicians, especially American ones. That is why criminal cases against the episcopate are dragging on. Our archpastors are simply kept under house arrest or in pretrial detention for months: they are pressured, their lawyers are prevented from being admitted, and their management of the diocese is prevented.

I am not talking about the ordinary clergy – their attitude is much worse. Our Orthodox journalists are arrested only for publishing news about violent seizures of churches, for example. If you do not consider the beating of believers as their “voluntary transition to the autocephalous church”, then in Ukraine you are already a criminal, a pretrial detention center is crying out for you.

Conditions in Ukrainian prisons are harsh, especially for the sick and elderly. Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, spent about a month in a pretrial detention center, but his health was catastrophically undermined: he suffered a heart attack and was treated. In order to free him from prison, believers from all over Ukraine collected and paid a huge bail for Ukraine – almost a million dollars. And, nevertheless, he remains under house arrest.

Since April, Metropolitan Arseniy, the abbot of the Svyatogorsk Lavra, has remained in pretrial detention. Metropolitans Feodosiy of Cherkasy and Kanev, Luka of Zaporizhia and Melitopol, and Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl remain under house arrest or under a written undertaking not to leave. A criminal case has been opened against Metropolitan Evlogy of Sumy and Akhtyrka for his sermons. Metropolitan Feodosiy continues to carry out human rights activities from under arrest, and has even spoken remotely to the UN several times with reports on the situation of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. SBU officers forbade him from doing this, put pressure on him, conducted searches and confiscated his means of communication five times. They tried to get him remanded in custody to shut his mouth, but the court has not yet decided to do so.

• What would you like to convey to your brothers who are persecuted and suffering in chains?

– “Remember those who are in prison, as if you were in prison with them; and those who suffer, as if you yourselves were in the body,” says the Apostle (Heb. 13:3). They know that I pray for them day and night. And that my heart is with them.

A bishop does not have the right to leave his flock of his own free will. I was ready to accept my sentence and remain in chains even until death. The SBU officers really wanted to exchange me for prisoners of war, they tried to persuade me in every possible way, they used threats and deception. I do not consider myself guilty, and I do not consider myself an “enemy prisoner of war” of Ukraine either – and I refused the exchange twice. When my appeal was rejected and in two days I was to be sent to prison, I learned of the petition of His Holiness the Patriarch for my release. And only then did I sign the consent, accepting the will of the Patriarch as obedience.

• We heard that together with Metropolitan Theodosius you created a human rights organization?

– In December last year, Bishop Feodosiy and I, along with several international organizations, created an international human rights alliance. We understand that the open persecution of Orthodoxy that is currently taking place in Ukraine is only part of a global process. The situation of Christians is deteriorating all over the world, even in “prosperous” Europe. Our rights are being infringed, we are being ignored, new morality and new rules of church life are being imposed on us.

We are grateful for the public support of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Primates and the episcopate of the Local Churches – it is very important now. But this support has no legal consequences. The idea is to create a certain alliance of human rights organizations with the participation of Orthodox hierarchs and clergy around the world. And for this association to protect the rights of the Orthodox Church wherever its support is needed. We called our organization “The Church against Xenophobia and Religious Discrimination.” In fact, Metropolitan Feodosiy spoke at the UN on behalf of this association.

We invite Orthodox hierarchs and clergy from all over the world to cooperate. Our coordinating council includes, for example, Metropolitan Timofey of Bostra and Archbishop Feodosiy of Sebastia from the Jerusalem Patriarchate, Metropolitan Gabriel of Lovech from the Bulgarian Patriarchate, Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany from the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad… Orthodoxy is indestructible as long as we are united and faithful to the teachings and canons of the Church.

• How would you comment on the recently adopted law 3894 on the de facto ban of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church? Is its total destruction possible on the territory of Ukraine, as was the case, for example, in communist Albania in the 20th century?

– It is entirely possible. If it were not for the international publicity and political changes, especially in the USA, the law would have been passed long ago. This law gives the state the right to liquidate our communities on very vague, political grounds. Each community, each monastery will have to specifically prove its loyalty to the state.

• And how can I prove it?

– That’s the point, it’s not clearly spelled out in the law. Yelensky’s department will decide for itself who is “loyal” and who is not. Viktor Yelensky [head of the Ukrainian State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience] – I know him well, he is an old Soviet atheist, a loyal Leninist. During the Soviet Union, he wrote scientific papers about the harm of religion and how to fight it using Marxist methods. This man in today’s democratic Ukraine will decide which community to close and which to leave. But to us, diocesan bishops, officials hint that the only way is to move to the so-called “autocephalous church.” The SBU officers made it clear to me and my brothers, against whom criminal cases are being brought: if we move into schism, all our problems will be solved.

• And what is the position of the OCU, does it support the bill?

– Of course, it does. Both Epiphanius Dumenko and the OCU speaker Evstratiy Zoria have repeatedly called for a legislative ban on our Church. Evstratiy Zoria in his interviews directly demanded a ban on the Church, the expulsion of our monks from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, and approved the demolition of our churches. The OCU is the most aggressive towards us. Look at the rude tone in which Epiphanius’s recent appeal to Metropolitan Onufriy with a call for dialogue was written – it’s a deliberate insult! Their call for “dialogue without preconditions” is a call for capitulation on the terms of the schismatics. They are waiting for the liquidation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in order to seize its communities by force or force them to join.

• And Patriarch Bartholomew? He created the OCU for the “unification of Ukrainian Orthodoxy.” Is this really how he sees this unification – as a legislative ban and destruction of the Church in the country?

– The day after the law was passed, a delegation from the Patriarchate of Constantinople arrived in Kyiv. They rushed in the very next day to divide the skin of the bear before it was killed. The media writes that the purpose of the visit was to persuade the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to give in and go into schism, or to enter the jurisdiction of Constantinople.

• In Ukraine, there is now much talk about the creation of an exarchate of Constantinople for the communities of the persecuted UOC.

– If this is true, then the exarchate is the same schism. Let’s agree – and we will immediately be forced to serve with people without apostolic succession and canonical ordinations.

• Do you think Metropolitan Onufriy will agree to this?

– They say that His Beatitude, at the meeting, suggested that the guests publicly condemn the seizure of churches and the law banning the Church. The Phanar envoys responded that they could not do this. It is sad if Patriarch Bartholomew sees in the law on the destruction of an entire Local Church only a means of blackmail and a good chance to profit. This is not much different from the position of the Ukrainian schismatics.

• How will the law work?

– The authorities gave the Church nine months to join the schism. Then they promise to “start from the top” – that is, with the liquidation of the Kyiv Metropolitanate and diocesan administrations. It is expected that after this, the church structure will lose its unity. Deputy Nikita Poturayev, one of the authors of the law and a person close to Zelensky, directly stated that their goal is to split the Ukrainian Church into at least three parts, and that such a split and weakened Church is “quite acceptable” for the state. But I am sure that they will not stop there. Cruelty and loss of humanity come to people in power gradually. When they understand that the Church has remained united, and the gates of hell have not prevailed against it, they will begin to arrest the rebellious episcopate and clergy, and destroy all parishes that refuse to “worship the beast and his image” (Rev. 14.9).

• What can the Ukrainian Orthodox Church do to counter this monstrous plan?

– Prayer and the grace of God. Our churches are still full of believers: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church prays, despite everything, and testifies about Christ to its persecutors. Have you seen the photos of the religious procession to Pochayiv this year? Tens of thousands of people! And the counteraction should be within the framework of Ukrainian and international legislation, at the level of human rights protection and objective informing the world community about what is happening in Ukraine. Already now, support from the Local Orthodox Churches is high. We thank all our Orthodox brothers for the prayer and public support, and we hope for it in the future.

• During the investigation and house arrest, you suffered a stroke and two heart attacks. Are you undergoing treatment, and have you managed to restore your health?

– Glory to God for everything. They treat me well, and the doctors here are good – highly qualified specialists. I feel much better, according to the words of the apostle: “He bore our sins on the cross, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness; by His stripes we are healed” (1 Pet. 2:24).

I do not regret anything. The Lord has honored me to testify about Him, to accept slander and slander for Him, and to carry His Cross for a short time. This is God’s great mercy to me, a sinner. I am grateful to God with all my heart.

Source:

OCP News Service