10 September 2024

There are fraudsters: a military chaplain tells about the difficulties of ministry

(Photo: Intent.Insight)

Chaplaincy service in the Ukrainian army is a new phenomenon, and there are still people who call themselves chaplains, but in fact are not legally chaplains.

Chaplain Olena Zhevets spoke about this on the air of Intent.Insight.

She noted that volunteers can also be chaplains, but there are fraudsters.

"Not everyone who wears camouflage and puts on a patch "chaplain" is actually a chaplain. We have encountered scammers who put on a uniform, registered a non-governmental organization, and called themselves chaplains. But in reality, for example, there was a person who was involved in occultism who was not a Christian at all, and this person just had a team of people like him," she said.

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At the same time, the chaplain noted that as volunteers, these people were really useful, but they should not have been called chaplains.

Legally, a military chaplain is an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who is subject to the laws of Ukraine and the military charter. A volunteer chaplain has nothing to do with the military chaplaincy service.

"They have nothing to do with the chaplaincy service, but they have to do with the chaplaincy ministry. They have to answer to God. Because they come to the military, talk to them about God and read prayers," said the chaplain.

It should be noted that there are currently three female chaplains serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Military chaplains receive salaries like military personnel, and those in the combat zone receive appropriate additional payments.

Every week, the Intent looks at one issue that worries Ukrainians, raises topical issues and tries to solve specific problems. For example, the previous episode was about education , and the guest of the studio was Olena Buynevych, Director of the Department of Education and Science at Odesa City Council .

The last ether of the summer, on August 27, was dedicated to communication between cultural figures, historians, and Ukrainian society and the audience.

It was decided to dedicate the ether on August 13 to Belarus. Valeriy Bolgan met with Alina Rudina, a Belarusian media personality who was forced to move to Ukraine, to discuss this issue.

The airing on August 6 was devoted to the unpleasant smell that has been bothering Odesa residents for several weeks.

On July 30 , they talked about the renaming of streets and alleys in Odesa, which was implemented by the head of the Odesa Regional State (Military) Administration, Oleh Kiper.

On Tuesday, July 23, the live broadcast was devoted to Odesa's housing and utilities sector, or rather its problems and development.

The topic of the first meeting was" Russia'swar crimes against Ukraine." We talked about recording war crimes in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, why they need to be recorded, who is doing it and how, and what results human rights activists have already achieved. The guest of the studio was Anatoliy Boyko, Chairman of the Board of the UHHRU.

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