A prayer for Hetman Mazepa
Viktor Yushchenko to Aleksei II: “Ukraine needs a dialogue”
President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine met with Alexei II, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, in the Danilov Monastery in Moscow. The head of the Ukrainian state was accompanied by Ukraine’s Ambassador to Russia Oleh Diomin, the deputy head of Presidential Secretariat Oleksandr Chaly, and other dignitaries. The head of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, AND other hierarchs also took part in the meeting.
First of all, I must underline the fact that the mass media of the Moscow Patriarchate practically ignored the Ukrainian president’s statements and concentrated exclusively on Patriarch Aleksei’s discourse.
After his meeting with the Moscow patriarch, President Yushchenko underlined the “sincere and open dialogue” that had taken place between him and the patriarch. According to the president, “he expressed his gratitude to the patriarch for conducting a service for the innocent victims of the Holodomor and political repressions in Moscow and various regions of Russia.” The two men also discussed the celebration of the 1,020th anniversary of the Christianization of Kyivan Rus’. “This is both a spiritual and secular holiday, so it would be good to harmonize both secular and spiritual programs,” President Yushchenko suggested.
Talking to reporters, Yushchenko underlined the need for broad and open discussions of questions relating to Ukrainian church life. He also stressed that both sides focused on the question of the development of Ukrainian Orthodoxy (what does this mean, “development of Orthodoxy?”) “I was speaking about the fact that Ukraine needs a dialogue so that the different parties taking part in this dialogue can form their positions and their vision of the situation in a clear and public way, because millions of people are at stake, not the relationships among two or three persons.”
His Holiness gave a high assessment to the importance of such personal meetings with the Ukrainian president and emphasized that “the welfare of the Ukrainian nation and its spiritual unity as well as accord in Ukrainian society and harmonious relations in Ukraine’s cooperation with other countries are the subject of our constant attention and care to no lesser an extent than our care about our congregations in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Moldova, and other countries, where for centuries the Orthodox nations have been spiritually ‘nourished’ by the Russian Orthodox Church.”
Afterwards the Moscow church’s mass media declared: “During the conversation there was an exchange of views on the situation in the relations between church and state in Ukraine, on ways of overcoming the rifts in Ukrainian Orthodoxy. The conviction was expressed that a mutual understanding of events in history (contemporary or past? — Author.) is needed.“
Patriarch Aleksei also expressed his concern about the trials facing believers of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which are linked to the existing church rifts in Ukraine, and invited the Ukrainian president to take part in an open discussion (among whom?) of the problems within this sphere.
The subject of the future celebrations of the 1,020th Christianization of Rus’ was also raised, as well as the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava. (Like the Russian president, the patriarch thinks that Ukrainians must joyfully celebrate the date of Hetman Mazepa’s defeat — Author.) President Yushchenko also invited His Holiness Patriarch Aleksei to visit Ukraine in connection with the festivities dedicated to the 1,020th anniversary of the Christianization of Rus’.
Talking to journalists after his meeting with the Ukrainian president, His Holiness said, “On the eve of the anniversary [of the Christianization of Rus’] the president and I spoke today about the fact that this is a common holiday and that we should mark it together with a prayer of thanks to God that our land was blessed by Orthodoxy: at first Kyivan Rus’ and afterwards the whole Russian land.” (The Moscow patriarch does not like to repeat the word “Ukraine.”)
The patriarch gave a short response to a question about the status of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. “The Orthodox Church in Ukraine is independent in its domestic life, but we preserve the spiritual connection between us, which has existed for 1,020 years: since Rus’ was christened.” It is generally known that at the time Muscovy did not exist, nor did Russians.
