Dear Deputy Secretary of State,
My name is Theodore Karakostas and I am an American of Greek Orthodox faith. I wish to protest the brutal and vicious crackdown against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (not to be confused with the artificially created Orthodox Church of Ukraine) by the Ukrainian authorities. This letter is not political but is intended as a public declaration of my Orthodox Christian faith. There are at least four bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who are being prosecuted by the Ukrainian government.
In addition to this, there are dozens of Churches that have been seized by the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” and its followers from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church through violent and brutal means and clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have been assaulted. I am aware of the horrific crisis emanating as a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine. I am opposed to the war in Ukraine and believe war can never be justified through faith as Orthodoxy does not endorse either jihads or Crusades.
The persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been under way since long before February 2022. Several years before the Russian invasion, Ukrainian authorities began persecuting the Ukrainian Church. Much of what has transpired results from the decision of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to grant “autocephaly” to the Church in Ukraine. Firstly, as a matter of Canon Law and Orthodox ecclesiology Patriarch Bartholomew had and has no right to intervene in the internal affairs of autocephalous Orthodox Churches.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been a part of the Russian Orthodox Church since 1686 and no sinister connotations can or should be inferred by the Moscow Patriarchate’s jurisdiction over Ukraine. If we are going to link ecclesiastical jurisdiction and borders with politics, American and other western officials should be reminded that the Vatican was once under the rule of Mussolini and later the Nazi occupation of Rome. American and other western governments never attempted to take away any parts of the Catholic Church from the Papacy.
Under Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the State Department violated the religious freedom not just of members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, but of all Orthodox Christians everywhere. In addition to Mr. Pompeo, former Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt overstepped his bounds when he interfered
blatantly in the internal affairs of the Orthodox Church of Greece. At one point, Ambassador Pyatt gave a speech at the Greek office of Foreign Affairs in which he commented on the Greek Church’s position on Ukrainian Church matters. Such comments on internal Church matters are profoundly insulting to Orthodox Christians as American officials are treating the true Church of Christ like some political party of non governmental organization.
Orthodox Christians believe the Orthodox Church is the true Church founded by Christ in the Gospel. The purpose of the Church is to serve as a hospital for sinners and not to serve political interests (especially that of an administration that is now scandalously promoting the abuse of children through the
neo pagan LGBT agenda). Some of us have become uneasy about remaining members in the dioceses under the Ecumenical Patriarchate as a result of the Patriarch’s violation of Orthodox canon law in Ukraine and the State Department’s involvement in the matter.
Within the United States itself, it is unconstitutional for the government to make a declaration about any particular faith. Yet, the State Department’s support for the defacto partition of the Russian Orthodox Church and the establishment of the illegitimate “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” is an intrusion into Church affairs as the Department has effectively declared what constitutes a “Church”. The State Department has effectively determined that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is not only invalid but deserves to be actively persecuted and outlawed as the government of Kiev is attempting to outlaw the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
There is a great deal of misery and grief that has resulted from this entire Church issue in Ukraine. The Orthodox Church is hampered from serving its spiritual mission as long as secular interests interfere with it. The Ukrainian Church as mentioned above has been part of the Russian Church since 1686 and its status is not something that came about recently. The idea that the Russian Church is serving some sort of sinister political plot is blatantly false. The Orthodox Church might have very well come together to actively oppose the war in Ukraine had Patriarch Bartholomew not recklessly invaded the ecclesiastical territory of Ukraine that does not belong to Constantinople.
The canonical territory of all local Orthodox Churches are determined by canon law and the conciliar traditions of the Orthodox Church. These matters are outside the scope and interests of the foreign policy establishment. Patriarch Bartholomew has created the worst schism in the Orthodox Church since the eleventh century. Orthodox Christians (including myself) are bitterly criticizing him over his policies which are motivated by his hunger for power.
I respectfully and humbly request from your office two things. First, to condemn the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on moral and legal grounds. The State Department has supported the creation of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” under the pretext of religious freedom. Religious freedom means that all individuals should be free to worship where and how they wish to. This means Ukrainians should be free to attend either the Ukrainian Orthodox Church or the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”. Let individuals worship where they please.
The second request is to ask that your office take the initiative to disavow any interference in the internal affairs of the Orthodox Church. This means no further commentaries or actions in terms of what constitutes an Orthodox Church. The State Department should be neutral and not side with any faction within Orthodoxy. This means disavowing support for Patriarch Bartholomew’s claims of authority over the Orthodox Church which are rejected by many Orthodox bishops, priests, theologians, monastics, and laypeople.
The United States can not claim to support religious freedom when it in effect presumes to declare what is or is not a legitimate Church as it has done in Ukraine. These actions in Ukraine have reverberated throughout the whole of Orthodoxy and in my particular case has seriously disrupted my spiritual life as the threat of a great Church schism remains.
I respectfully ask that the State Department return to its role as a neutral observer and respect the religious traditions and boundaries of the Orthodox Church as they have stood for many centuries.
Thank you
Theodore Karakostas
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