"Odesa Eparchy gave Ukraine the most official chaplains," Archbishop Athanasius

The head of the Odesa Eparchy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is an atypical archbishop. It turned out that he listens to Rammstein and reads fantasy. He has a difficult background: in 2013, he was appointed Bishop of Luhansk and Starobilsk of the UOC (KP), and in 2019, he was appointed to the OCU. After that, Bishop Athanasius Yavorsky was appointed to the Odesa See, and in 2023 he was elevated to the rank of archbishop. We had an opportunity to talk to him about why so few parishes in the Odesa region are moving to the OCU. By the way, it is the South that provides the most Orthodox chaplains. Meanwhile, the master of theology warns that it is bad to be a religious fanatic.

Why is it so slow to move to the OCU in the Odesa diocese?

That's a good question. It does not depend on the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. And not even on the Moscow Patriarchate. The issue of transition depends only on believers who go to certain churches.

Therefore, if people express a desire to transfer from the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate to the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, then this happens. And we already had such precedents last year in the village of Oleksandrivka in the Black Sea community, when the entire parish expressed a desire to leave the UOC (MP). And it happened painlessly.

What problems do these newly created parishes face?

First of all, the newly created parishes face litigation. In Sarat, there have been lawsuits since 2020. The parish is officially registered in the state register, but there are still problems to this day. Therefore, in most cases, this is what scares people.

Let's imagine that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP) proves its independence from Russia and does not join the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Will relations between the two Orthodox churches ever be restored?

Jesus Christ generally teaches us about love. His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine says that our embrace is open to everyone, including the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine.

Of course, it depends on them whether they want to join or create some other structure. We have already offered everything that we could offer in good faith.

Photo: Intent

Are there any priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP) with whom you communicate?

There are many such priests. And not only in the Odesa region. This is not my first pulpit - I was in the Luhansk region before. There I also communicated with the clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate. And our communication was always normal, relaxed, and, one might even say, friendly.

What problems does the eparchy face in communicating with local and regional authorities?

A lack of understanding of our needs. The authorities very often do not understand that the current war depended on those clergymen who instructed the people who called for Putin's troops. In the Luhansk region in 2014, I heard people chanting "Putin send in the troops" more than once, and those people were led by Russian clergymen. As long as there is a church in Ukraine that is affiliated with Russia, it will always be a fifth column that will undermine the foundations of Ukrainian statehood from within.

Do many priests of the diocese serve in the Armed Forces?

Our Odesa diocese is probably the diocese of Ukraine that has provided the most priests who are now official chaplains, i.e., officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The OCU emphasizes that in many issues, for example, regarding women's clothing in frames, and so on, the Orthodox Church is more progressive than the UOC (MP). What is your church's attitude toward abortion and the LGBT community?

It has a negative attitude, of course. Because family values are spelled out in the Bible. And everything that goes against the nature of procreation is sinful. A conceived child already has a soul, and since it has a soul, any taking of life is murder,

What is the Orthodox Church of Ukraine's attitude to St. Xenia of St. Petersburg, Matrona of Moscow, i.e. the saints venerated by the Moscow Patriarchate?

We have a lot of our own Ukrainian saints who are not recognized by the Russian church. There are saints who are not recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Therefore, even if Xenia of St. Petersburg or Matrona of Moscow are saints for the Russian church, we can respect them in our churches as well. There is nothing wrong with that. But there are saints whom our Orthodox Church has excluded from sainthood. They are promoted by the Russian church and are associated with collaborationism. Such as, for example, Alexander Nevsky and many others.

Photo: Facebook page of Archbishop Athanasius Yavorsky

Are there any plans for a seminary or monastery in the diocese?

Not at all, because in Ukraine today there are four higher religious educational institutions that are accredited by the state. These are the Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy, Lviv, Volyn, and the Faculty of Theology at the University of Chernivtsi, and there are many seminaries in Dnipro, Rivne, Uzhhorod, and Chernivtsi.

Therefore, there is no need to open a theological seminary or any other theological educational institution in Odesa. We hope that someday we will come to a point where the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine will be together. There is already a seminary on 16 Fontana Street, so there is no point in duplicating another one.

How did the life of the Odesa Eparchy change during the war?

Many more people began to come to churches. Before major holidays, many people call both my personal phone number and the phone numbers of church rectors, asking whether there is really a Ukrainian church or a Russian church here.

What do you think are the main topics of your sermons nowadays?

My sermons are based, first of all, on strengthening the faith. I always tell people that our faith gives strength to soldiers to defend Ukraine. The faith of all the people of Ukraine performed a miracle and stopped one of the largest armies. No one in the world believed that we would survive.

Photo: Intent

What do parishioners most often ask priests?

There are difficult and terrible questions. Why does God allow war? There is an answer, but no one likes it. We find it in the Old Testament. When the Israelites backslid from God, He punished them with captivity, disease, and death until they repented.

Unfortunately, since gaining independence, Ukraine has been torn between Russia and Europe, between the Orthodox Church in Ukraine and the Russian Church. A lot of bad things led to this war. So we deserved what we have today, in fact.

When I was in Luhansk in early 2014, journalists also asked me: how do you see the war ending? I said: with the death of people. At that time, no one could even think that there would be a full-scale war.

What do you see as the spiritual problems of Odesa?

Our city is multinational and, first of all, the spiritual problems are that it is very difficult to bring everyone together.

To date, we have managed to find common ground with other churches by creating the Odesa Council of Churches. Recently, we held a prayer breakfast with Christians of the Evangelical Faith. We try to be together, to show that together we are strong, because each of us cannot do anything alone.

I like Odesa region for its incredible color. Bulgarians, Romanians, Moldovans, and even German villages live here. You could say that Odesa region combines the incompatible. I actually like it.

Photo: Facebook page of Archbishop Athanasius Yavorsky

What kind of music do you listen to? What do you read?

I love classical music because I grew up listening to it. I graduated from music school with a degree in violin, and from a music college with a degree in choral conducting. For me, classical music is everything.

But I wasn't always a clergyman, I was a young man once. That's why heavy rock is not, as they say, alien to me, so I like to listen to Rammstein, and at the same time to our Ukrainian pop music. Probably, after the shelling, listening to rock is the right thing to do. Although I didn't like it before.

As for fiction, I like fantasy. Of course, I must also read theological literature, because without it it is impossible to prepare sermons and preach to people in a quality way. But fiction, I believe, also gives development to thinking and words. Especially to be able to speak. Because a sermon is a monologue, by and large. That's why I read everything.

How do you feel that the war is changing the spiritual world of a person?

I saw outright atheists back in 2014. When I came to the military as a chaplain. In the end, when they had a negative experience, they became fanatics of religion. This is not good. There has to be a middle ground. Both the spiritual and the material must be combined. As the Lord God blessed, everything should be in harmony.

How will the war end?

Of course, there is no such thing as wars lasting forever, so everything will end in victory. The only question is for which side? We believe that we will win because God is with us, the truth is with us. The whole church prays and we defend ourselves, we have never attacked anyone. The Lord God always stands on the side that defends itself. Therefore, we will win.

With this material, Intent continues a series of video conversations with clergymen from southern Ukraine. The purpose of this series is to show as broad and complete a picture of religious life as possible.

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