Paul
Goble
Staunton, June 17 – Moscow’s
annexation of Crimea and intervention in Ukraine’s Donbas has left many Ukrainian
Baptist communities in a difficult state because the occupation authorities do
not want to recognize them unless they break their ties with Kyiv and
subordinate themselves to Moscow.
But it has also, Igor Bandura, the
vice president of the Ukrainian Baptist community organization, highlighted
differences between Ukrainian Baptists and their Russian co-religionists,
differences that will make it very difficult to avoid having the conflict take
on a religious dimension (risu.org.ua/ru/index/expert_thought/interview/60247/).
“We
have become witnesses of the ways in which political discourse is capable of
influencing relations between Christians,” the Baptist leader says. “Ukrainian
and Russian Baptists have one faith, a common history, and much in common in
the practice of church life, service and mission.”
But
unfortunately politics has entered in “far beyond the range of the permissible,”
Bandura continues, and today, “Russian brothers have not accepted the position
of Ukrainian Christians on events before, during and after the Maidan,” and
they have condemned Kyiv while praising everything Moscow does, in violation of
church norms.
Compared
to their Russian counterparts, the Baptist leader says, “Ukrainian churches
more sharply feel the importance of personal freedom and the values of the
individual, freedom of speech and confession, and the independence of the church
from the state. [They] are more conscious of their responsibility to raise the
prophetic voice” in defense of these values.
“For
us, the authorities are not ‘a holy cow,’ and the source of power – according to
the Constitution – is not het president and government but the people. We have
thus a different situation regarding religious freedom and other prospects for
the development of the church,” Bandura suggests.
“We hope that these
differences will be overcome, and the continuing contacts which we have will
step by step help to achieve agreement on issues which today are creating
tensions. We value the assistance of those churches in Russia which suffer
together with us and hope that our prayers and God’s goodness and mercy will lead
to agreement with all the others.”
Many Baptist congregations are in
Russian-controlled territories or in those where there is fighting between
Ukrainian and Russian forces. There are 100 such churches in Donetsk oblast, 74
in Luhansk oblast, and many in occupied Crimea as well where only a few have
succeeded in re-registering. Conditions are bad and “approximately a third” of the
Baptists in these areas have fled.
“The majority of churches of the Baptist
Brotherhood provide continuing help to the churches in the zone of the
humanitarian catastrophe, although it is now very complicated to provide such
aid,” Bandua says. The Russian church
could do more, but the Ukrainian one continues to represent these congregations
at international meetings, preparing reports and maintaining what ties they
can.
As far as Baptists around the world
are concerned, the Ukrainian church leader says, “the majority of
representatives of the national and international organizations understand what
is happening in Ukraine and share our pain. There is sufficient understanding
of what Ukraine needs; there is no understanding as far as what should be done
with Russian in this situation.”
Tragically, he concludes, “the
presence of a religious component in the current conflict is beyond doubt, and
work is being conducted to minimize the possible consequences of religious
antagonism. The Baptist churches support Ukraine in prayer and provide material
assistance to it … For me,” Bandura says, Baptist “solidarity with Ukraine is
obvious.”
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