Mercedes, mobile phone belie religious nature of Mariupol street clash
entourage were attacked by followers of a rival Orthodox church in the Donetsk oblast city of Mariupol on April 30.
Patriarch Filaret and several of his monks were attacked by a gang of followers of the rival Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Partiarchate. Carrying iron bars, bricks and stones, the gang staged the attack during a consecration ceremony at the construction site for a new cathedral.
Filaret told a press conference in Kyiv on May 5 that one of the attackers struck him on the back with a stick. They also broke his staff and stole his hat. A special division of Ukraine's elite Berkut Interior Ministry forces moved in before the attackers could do more damage.
The Kyiv Patriachate church's appeal to the police, a copy of which was obtained by the Post, said that the mostly young attackers had been incited by Father Markovsky, a priest with the Mariupol congregation of the Moscow Patriarchate church.
According to Filaret's appeal, Markovsky himself was on the scene and ordered the attack via mobile phone. The attackers then arrived in four buses.
The attack was the most recent in a series of violent incidents over power and property that have occurred between the two Ukrainian Orthodox Churches since Fileret's church broke away from the larger Moscow church seven years ago. The incidents ceased temporarily last year, when the churches signed an agreement on peace and reconciliation. Now the status of that truce is unclear.
Reports from the police and the Kyiv Patriarchate agree on the nature of the attack, but differ widely on the extent of injuries and property damage that resulted from the incident.
According to the Interior Ministry's report, Filaret and eight accompanying priests were attacked by approximately 80 followers of the Moscow Patriarchate while blessing the site for a future church. Five priests and four attackers were hurt in the clash, but none suffered serious injuries, the ministry said.
Filaret's office, on the other hand, said that 'tens of people suffered, including Patriarch Filaret.'
The Interior Minstry statement did not specify whether Filaret was among those injured, but Filaret's office in the wake of the attack issued a public statement that the church leader had suffered some unspecified bodily injuries and was under constant medical supervision.
Filaret showed no outward signs of physical damage at the May 3 press conference.
The statement also said that Filaret's personal secretary was hospitalized with 'a concussion of the brain and numerous bodily injuries.' According to the police, though, no one was taken to the hospital for medical treatment after the accident.
Accounts also differed concerning the damage done to the patriarch's Mercedes. Filaret's office said the car's front and rear windows had been smashed, but police said that only one rear window had been broken.
In the wake of the attack, Filaret's church accused local officials of complicity in the assault and said the Kyiv government has not done enough to support the Ukrainian church.
Ukraine has no official religion, but Orthodox Christianity predominates among churchgoers. The Moscow and Kyiv patriarchate churches are the largest of the three main Orthodox sects.
One of the main sticking points between the two sides is property. The nationalistic Rukh party has called for several properties currently held at least in part by the state or the Moscow Patriarchate to be turned over to the Kyiv Patriarchate. Among them are Kyiv's St. Sophia Cathedral, the Pochaiv monastery and Kyiv's Pecherska Lavra, which houses several state-run museums.
Rukh also called to revoke registration of the Church of Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine, and said it will picket government and president's offices on May 7 with this demand.
Filaret's office blamed the Moscow Patriarchate church for ordering the assault, calling the attack 'unprecedented.'
'Undoubtedly, the pseudo-church of the Moscow Patriarchate was behind these criminal actions,' the statement from Filaret's office said.
A spokesman in the office of the Church of Moscow Patriarchate said the church 'had nothing to say because we did not do anything.'
Filaret's office claimed that on the eve of their leader's visit to Mariupol, Father Markovsky went on television calling for an armed attack on the followers of the Kyiv Patriarchate.
The Kyiv Patriarchate's office also said that all such propaganda and the recent attack happened with the blessing of the local government and the police.
'The organs of state executive power and President Leonid Kuchma are completely unable to fulfill their obligations,' the statement read.
Filaret's office demanded a public apology from President Kuchma and Prime Minister Valery Pustovoitenko, as well as the dismissal of all regional officials who allowed the incident to happen and central government officials in charge of religious policy. The church also demanded the creation of a special government committee to investigate the case together with the police.
The appeal to the police also specified the total damages of church property and equipment of the priests – Hr 18,130 in total, including Hr 6,500 for the Mercedes alone – that the church wants to have compensated.
A spokesman at Filaret's office told The Associated Press that Kuchma has ordered a criminal investigation.
In 1997, Filaret escaped an assassination attack when a radio-controlled explosive was discovered in a Kyiv monastery he was planning to visit. Around the same time, two priests and a church activist were murdered.
