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The sermon, a deeply symbolic moment after months of tension with the Moscow-run branch of the church, came as a ceasefire failed to materialize.
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By Megan Specia
Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine
Worshippers gathered Saturday at Ukraine’s highest monastery to celebrate Orthodox Christmas in the same way they have for centuries.
Clergy dressed in silver robes sang as they walked down the ornate aisle as families prayed side by side. Periodically, the congregation erupted in Christmas carols that echoed on the golden walls.
But there is a critical difference: for the first time, the sermon delivered in the main church of the monastery through the leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church led by Kiev, a symbolic moment that highlighted the deep rift within the Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
The Moscow-run church that has long ruled life in much of Ukraine has historically held the Christmas sermon at the monastery, Pechersky Lavra. But this faction has been accused of supporting Russian forces that have invaded Ukraine, acting as a fifth column for Moscow.
Distrust of the Russian-run church has risen and, in recent months, Ukrainian security has begun attacking monasteries, adding Pechersky Lavra, looking for Russian saboteurs and arrests of priests for treason. church, and many churches have switched their allegiance to the Ukrainian-led branch.
The sermon, delivered by the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Epiphanius, was celebrated as a unilateral 36-hour ceasefire declared through Russia, and never accepted through Ukraine, which did not materialize the Orthodox Christmas period. At least 3 civilians were killed in Friday’s attacks, according to the Ukrainian government, and several others were wounded.
On Saturday, women dressed in floral scarves, uniformed foot soldiers and young families began arriving early for the ceremony, shortly after 8 a. m. They can simply enter the church.
Pechersky Lavra is located on top of a cliff overlooking the Dnipro River. Considered a cradle of Orthodoxy for Russians and Ukrainians, its 1,000-year-old catacombs house the remains of respected saints. It belongs to the Ukrainian government, which allowed Kiev- to lead the church to hold the service in the cathedral that the church run by Moscow.
In Russia, Orthodox Christmas celebrations were underway. President Vladimir V. Putin attended an evening service at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Kremlin and, on Saturday morning, addressed a Christmas message to Russians, highlighting the church’s role in “supporting participants in the army’s special operation,” his euphemism for the war in Ukraine.
Patriarch Kirill, head of the Moscow church and staunch supporter of Mr. Kirill’s decision. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine had in the past advised a ceasefire for the Christmas holidays. On Saturday, he led a Christmas sermon in Moscow and broadcast a televised message. to members of the faith, offering prayers for those killed in the fighting.
Putin’s announcement of a pause in fighting from noon on Friday until midnight Saturday, which by all accounts never happened, was presented by his supporters as an effort to respect the Orthodox religion on the holiday and, according to analysts, an attempt by the Russian leader to bolster his symbol as protector of religion.
On the Ukrainian front, there was no sign of a ceasefire on Friday when the 36-hour window began. In Bakhmut, the eastern Ukrainian city that has been the scene of some of the most intense battles in recent weeks, fighting continued unabated and defense research indicated that the fighting point has not changed. Two civilians were killed and thirteen wounded there overnight from Friday to Saturday when residential spaces were attacked, according to the head of Ukraine’s regional administration and prosecutor general’s office.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a speech late Friday after the United States announced a new $3 billion military assistance program for Ukraine that will come with Bradley combat vehicles, called recent diplomatic efforts a success and vowed to push for more troops from abroad.
“For Ukraine, there is more air defense, more armored vehicles, for the first time: Western tanks, more weapons and projectiles, more power and political opportunities,” he said. “And all this, more cover for Ukrainians and all Europeans who oppose any manifestation of Russian terror. “
The Ukrainian side, which has never said it will respect the ceasefire, does not seem to budge. On Saturday, the governor of the Russian-installed city of Sevastopol in Crimea said a Ukrainian drone was shot down there in the early hours of the morning. , after an obvious attempt to attack the port where the Russian Black Sea Fleet is based. Ukraine does not verify attempted attacks in occupied Crimea.
But at the Kyiv Monastery on Saturday, fighting on Ukraine’s frontline was far from the minds of many, as they focused on the importance of devout service.
A choir of young men and women dressed in classic Ukrainian clothing, who added headdresses richly adorned with beads and long woolen socks from one of the country’s western regions, sang the ceremony.
As the church filled with parishioners, crowds gathered outdoors in the morning air without bloodshed, watching the rite on a giant screen as a gentle gust of snow fell.
Iryna Holovan, who lives in Kyiv, brought her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Diana, who wrapped in a parka, dressed in a pink snowcap and boots, because she felt the moment was “historic. “
Nazar Papiuko, 22, arrived with his wife, Viktoria Papiuko, 21. Although the couple said they were not religious, they felt it was important to care about this culturally important time.
“It’s a big party for us,” M. Papiuko. But this moment is simply a wonderful day for all Ukrainians. “
Alina Hizhe, five9, from the Kyiv region, left her home at five in the morning with her grandson Nazar Pchelinskyi, 13, to stand at the front of the line to enter the holy site.
“We see this as the return of our Ukrainian heritage,” he said. “And this is a great event. “
Oleksandra Mykolyshyn contributed to Kyiv’s reporting.
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