Archbishop Artemy: Spiritual Testament
To His Holiness Kirill
Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’
From Archbishop Artemy
of Hrodna and Vaŭkavysk
REPORT
9 June 2021 No. 9-621/1
Your Holiness!
I consider it necessary to address you with explanation of my position in the context of recent events in the social and political life of Belarus.
On 9 August 2020, presidential elections took place in the Republic of Belarus. Their preparation, execution and announcement of the results caused numerous complaints from the candidates, their teams, observers, media and, most importantly, the broad grassroots mass of the Belarusian civil society. The news space was rapidly filled with evidence of the non-admission and forcible removal of observers from polling stations, of a clearly unrealistic number of those who voted in advance, of the failure by members of electoral commissions to comply with the unequivocal legal requirement of displaying voting results at polling stations. Consequently, the citizens of Belarus — those who, according to the Constitution, have the right to choose their own government — felt deceived and insulted!
The events that followed the closure of the polling stations shocked and horrified us all! The batons of riot police, the internal troops, and the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs fell on the people who were peacefully protesting the deceit. Then bullets and grenades flew at them too. The country froze in a silent cry from the scale of violence and cruelty! The pre-trial detention centre on Akrescina Street in Minsk has become a place of terrible tortures and torment, the cry from which was heard also by the priests who responded to human sufferings as pastors and volunteers. In our Cathedral in Hrodna, priests and laity — at the risk of becoming victims of violence themselves — sheltered everyone who sought safety under the cover of the church!
In those days, on 14 August, I addressed the believers of the Hrodna diocese and all people of good will with a message where I directly named the reason for what had happened then — the violation of Truth. Truth in its broad sense — as the Truth of Christ and as a principle on which a person who knows the Truth of Christ builds one’s life. Obviously, it is precisely the departure from the Truth in spiritual and personal life that led to tragic consequences in the civil life of our country!
This Address and my sermon on 16 August in the Cathedral were my only public statements on this subject. Together with the clergy, we came to the decision that we do not interfere in politics, we do not encourage believers to be ‘for’ or ‘against’ certain political subjects, we do not analyse their programs. At the same time, we cannot look indifferently at the events taking place, at the suffering of people from unmotivated violence, at injustice in the courts, the persecution of all dissidents and dissenters. And we have the right to raise our voice in defence of the persecuted.
This position was fully coherent with the Appeal to the People of the Republic of Belarus on Ending the People’s Confrontation adopted by the Synod of the BOC on 15 August 2020. In particular, the Appeal said: “We believe and hope that the leadership of the country, which is rightfully called upon to respect and protect its people, will stop the violence, hear the voices of the suffered and innocent victims, and will bring those who have shown atrocity and cruelty to the lawful judgment and prosecution”.
Why are His Eminence Metropolitan and other members of the Synod silent about this document, as if it never existed? They sign new cooperation agreements with the same Ministry of Internal Affairs without even hinting that the problem of taking responsibility for violence must be addressed in the first place? Or are they ashamed now for the ‘momentary weakness’ they showed when they nevertheless managed to call a spade a spade: lies — lies, cruelty — cruelty, murder — murder? But can it really be shameful for Christians, and even more so for the hierarchs of the Church, to act exactly according to the commandment of Christ: “Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37)? Your Holiness, the words of your Christmas Address on 7 January 2021 were of great hope for the Orthodox Christians in Belarus; you called on the Belarusian authorities to resolve current matters “without putting off for long what causes tension in society.” Sadly, Your Holiness’s call was not heeded, the dialogue of the authorities with society did not begin in earnest; instead, the flywheel of violence began to sway with even strongly viciousness!
Only recently, at the end of May, another suicide provoked by the investigating authorities’ pressure shocked Belarus. Seventeen-year-old Dzmitry Stakhouski stepped towards his death from the sixteenth floor of his student dormitory in Minsk choosing such a terrible freedom to imprisonments for taking part in the protest. A spontaneous memorial appeared at the place of his death: flowers, candles, and lamps. The police patrol on duty requested the dormitory concierge to remove it. She refused explaining that she was a believer and would not act contrary to the voice of her conscience! Our laity are more decent and honest than all of us, bishops, who, perhaps, have long forgotten what people of faith should act like!
I am saying all this while thinking of the Orthodox Church in Belarus, with concern about how it will emerge from the current situation. Will it remain a community of people faithful to Christ and his Gospel who can testify about Him honestly and courageously, defend truth and freedom; or, having lost all its reputation and good name, will it finally slide into servility and loyalty to the state for which the ‘silent’ Church is a quite convenient asset?
And these worries are not just a figure of speech. During the entire period of the current crisis, a lot of thoughtful, sincere, and honest people have left our Church. They either simply stopped being members of our parishes, or openly declared their readiness to convert to Roman Catholicism. Their main motive is the ‘silence’ of our Church about the state’s cruelty and repressions towards citizens. They cannot comprehend the deafness and blindness of us, archpastors, who found a convenient excuse in the form of ‘neutrality’ while the groans, weeping and torment of people in courts and prisons continue to this day.
A vivid expression of such a ‘migratory’ mood was an inscription left by unknown people on the fence of one of the Minsk churches in the Christmas period. It read: “Thank you, fathers, now I know that my Christmas is on 25 December”. I think comments here are superfluous!
The impressions of people who on 13 November went to the funeral service for 32-year-old activist Raman Bandarenka to the Roman Catholic Archcathedral in Minsk — due to the absence of such in the Orthodox Cathedral — were especially painful to read. When Bandarenka was a Minsk College of Architecture and Art student, he made wall paintings for the pilgrims refectory at the convent in Žyrovičy. His name is on a memorial sign there. Our Orthodox young man was brutally murdered for no reason in his own courtyard and posthumously slandered, and it were Catholics who prayed for him, led by their Bishop Juryj Kasabucki. His deep and heartfelt words about the murdered man and about what Christian faithful should think of the murder were also heard by many Orthodox believers. And to our shame and disgrace, some of them said: “Today Juryj Kasabucki was the Christian Bishop of Minsk”! If this is not a loss for the BOC, then what is? And how can we justify them before God? By the fact that praise from the state for the ‘correct’ behaviour during the crisis is dearer to us than fallen souls?
And yet, the Orthodox Church still retains its authority among the Belarusian people. This authority rests not on us, the hierarchs, but on fidelity to Christ in communion with whom people want to remain even in spite of our officially servile behaviour. Although the latter does not go unnoticed by the views of bright, worthy and deeply believing representatives of the civil society, such as Paval Sieviaryniec and Paval Latushka. Their appeals to Metropolitan Veniamin, made in the most correct and respectful tone, while being clear and going right to the core of the issues raised, had a wide response in church circles. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the answers, which either were not given at all, or they were rather attempts to avoid answering the questions asked. This contributes to weakening of the image of our Church in a segment of society that is not indifferent to us.
The other camp represented by the authorities and groups associated with the authorities constantly attack our diocese and its clergy. It happens in forms that are very far from civilised and respectful communication, and rather reminiscent of provocations and insults! In the Telegram channels controlled by them, priests are presented as money-lovers, collaborationists, populists, traitors sold out to the «West», rebels, etc. People from a peculiar and obscure organisation Infospetsnaz who had never before been noticed in zealous and prayerful visits to the Cathedral «suddenly» got terribly offended by the impossibility of receiving spiritual consolation from the icons of the New Martyrs! It is unbearable for them to see people with red stars as executioners on those icons! We tried to give calm and intelligible answers and explanations to all those attacks: those people are our Christians too!
God sees, I did not have and do not have other intentions and aspirations than to be a bishop of my Church and teach people to be faithful to God in all circumstances of earthly life. I constantly referred to the example of our New Martyrs and pointed out that their confession is their unparalleled feat made possible because of their rejection of opportunism. And, at the same time, this is their payment for the Orthodox Church’s opportunism in the previous period of history! And now, when we are in a situation of an important choice again, I have been and will continue urging not to make the mistakes of the past, lest we not again have to pay a terrible price for the right for freedom to be with Christ!
I consider the decision of the Synod of the Belarusian Exarchate to be canonically untenable, politically motivated, and adopted not for the benefit of the Church, but to please the civil authorities that have lost their legitimacy. I hope for the decision of Your Holiness to restore justice.
Kindly asking for Your Holiness Blessing
Archbishop of Hrodna and Vaŭkavysk
+ Artemy
