{"id":2268791,"date":"2024-06-16T04:13:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-16T08:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ukraine-debates-whether-to-conscript-clergy-as-russia-war-rages\/"},"modified":"2024-06-16T04:20:26","modified_gmt":"2024-06-16T08:20:26","slug":"ukraine-debates-whether-to-conscript-clergy-as-russia-war-rages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ukraine-debates-whether-to-conscript-clergy-as-russia-war-rages\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine considers drafting clergy amid ongoing conflict with Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fukraine-debates-whether-to-conscript-clergy-as-russia-war-rages%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2268791&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Due to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/special-forces-and-missiles-how-ukraine-is-taking-the-fight-to-russia\/\" title=\"Special Forces and Missiles: How Ukraine Is Taking the Fight to Russia\">manpower shortages<\/a>, Ukraine has considered mobilizing clergy into the military, adding to a political\u200c debate already heightened by\u200d conscripting prisoners. Various discussions revolve around whether\u200d clergy \u200bshould be exempt \u2062from conscription, reflecting\u200b a significant\u2064 issue amidst high military casualties in the ongoing war with Russia. Viktor Yelensky\u200d of\u200b the Ukrainian state agency for Ethno-Politics \u2064and Freedom of Conscience highlighted \u2064ongoing\u200d debates with government officials regarding an exemption for clergy.\u200b Meanwhile, \u200bFr. Sergiy \u2063Berezhnoy, a military chaplain,\u2064 argued for a \u200cnuanced approach to drafting\u2063 laws considering \u2063different societal roles.<\/p>\n<p>Concerns are\u200b being raised\u200b by some that\u2062 clergy&#8217;s draft exemptions might be seen as\u200b draft-dodging, potentially demoralizing wider society.\u200c Oleksandr Merezhko,\u2063 chair\u200b of Ukraine&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congressional-republicans-call-on-biden-administration-to-act-swiftly-on-ethiopia-crisis\/\" title=\"Congressional Republicans Call on Biden Administration to Act Swiftly on Ethiopia Crisis\">foreign affairs committee<\/a>, emphasized that \u200bexempting clergy could send a \u200bnegative signal to\u200c society. However, \u2062supporters of exemptions argue that mobilizing clergy against their \u2063will, especially \u200dwhen their denominational\u200d beliefs \u2062prohibit them from wielding weapons,\u2063 could\u200b force \u2064churches\u200d to close and \u200dimpede religious practices. This debate is further complicated by\u2063 the role of churches in maintaining Ukrainian \u2064identity and resisting Russian \u200dcultural \u200cdominance.<\/p>\n<p>This contentious issue reflects broader tensions regarding Ukraine&#8217;s \u200breligious and national identity,\u2064 especially against the \u2062backdrop of Russia&#8217;s aggressive policies and\u2063 attempts to exert religious influence \u2063in Ukraine. The debate over clergy \u200cmobilization underscores the intricate\u200b relationship between religion,\u2063 politics, and military \u200cneeds\u200d in Ukraine amidst a\u2063 complex and\u2064 evolving conflict scenario.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>KYIV \u2014 <\/strong>Just weeks after manpower shortages <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rferl.org\/a\/zelenskiy-ukraine-military-mobilization\/32907865.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>forced<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Ukraine\u2019s\">Ukraine\u2019s<\/a> leaders to allow prison convicts to join the military, officials face a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/shapiro-past-time-to-fight-back\/\" title=\"SHAPIRO: Past Time To Fight Back\">fraught political debate<\/a> about whether to mobilize clergy, as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere [are] discussions over how not to mobilize these people \u2014 how to provide them with an exemption from conscription,\u201d Viktor Yelensky, who leads the Ukrainian state agency for Ethno-Politics and Freedom of Conscience, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> during an interview at his office. \u201cIt\u2019s a serious issue. I\u2019m in the process of discussion with different <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/government\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>government<\/a> officials.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That conversation is unfolding largely behind the scenes, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-massive-earthquake-hits-haiti-thousands-feared-dead\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Massive Earthquake Hits Haiti, Thousands Feared Dead\">high casualties<\/a> in the third year of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Russia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Russia<\/a>\u2019s full-scale invasion put a strain on military commanders and families across Ukraine. The question of whether the clergy\u2019s service should extend beyond military chaplaincy and humanitarian work is charged with significance for Ukrainian civil society. Some policymakers perceive the clergy want to shirk their military duty, while the religious leaders and their advocates maintain that their mobilization would lead to the shuttering of parishes across the country.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Fr. Sergiy Berezhnoy in military garb at the Church of the Kyivan Saints, a small wooden chapel near the waters traditionally identified with the baptism of Prince Vladimir 1 and the tenth-century conversion of the Kyivan Rus to Christianity. Photo credit: (Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe will accept that as persecution because if there is no priest in the church, then the question arises, how will religious rites be done?\u201d said Oleksandr Zaiets, board chairman of the Kyiv-based Institute for Religious Freedom. \u201cIn many of the denominations, [there is] a ban on clergy using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/weapons\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>weapons<\/a>. If he were mobilized as a combatant, that will be a problem for him as clergy and for his conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For some Ukrainian leaders, these considerations smack of draft-dodging, the indulgence of which would threaten the wider mobilization effort. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo me, you know, it will send a very back demoralizing signal for the society if we make such exemptions,\u201d Oleksandr Merezhko, who chairs the Ukrainian parliament\u2019s foreign affairs committee, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. \u201cIt looks ugly, when people are trying \u2026 to be exempt from going to the battle. It looks ugly \u2026 especially when it comes to people who claim to have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/david-harsanyi-save-our-democracy-is-the-new-russia-collusion\/\" title=\"David Harsanyi: \u201cSave Our Democracy\u201d Is the New \u201cRussia Collusion\u201d\">high moral ground<\/a>, like churches, like religions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The prospect of a rupture between the Ukraine\u2019s religious communities and the central government carries potential strategic risk for Kyiv in a region where religious tensions carry geopolitical significance. \u00a0The full-scale phase of Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/615771\/church-battle-could-weaken-putins-power-in-ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>presaged<\/a> by a division of the Orthodox parishes of Ukraine; the premier patriarch of the global Orthodox Church, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/896950\/global-orthodox-church-leader-condemns-putins-war-in-ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>authorized<\/a> the establishment of an independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine. He took that decision to the objections of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the traditional leader of the Orthodox parishes in Ukrainian territory, who has declared the invasion of Ukraine a <a href=\"https:\/\/irf.in.ua\/p\/129\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>\u201choly war\u201d<\/a> and asserted Moscow\u2019s hegemony over \u201cthe Russian World,\u201d or <em>Russkiy Mir<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>A flag of Ukraine inside the chapel, augmented by the signatures of Ukrainian military personnel and a pin that Berezhnoy said he received from Ukrainian pilots training to fly U.S.-made F-16s. (Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Ukrainian government\u2019s subsequent interest in requiring Ukrainian parishes to sever their ties with the Moscow Patriarchate has fueled accusations of religious persecution by influential hard-right commentators such as former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Zaiets and his allies, for their part, described \u201cthe most brutal persecution of all religious communities that try to preserve their Ukrainian identity and refuse to come under the control of Russian religious centers\u201d in their bid to persuade Republican lawmakers to vote for continued U.S. military assistance to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need a wise approach,\u201d Fr. Sergiy Berezhnoy, a military chaplain and prominent priest of the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. \u201cAnd this wise approach must subsist [in] special rules for different people from different spheres of lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The clergy\u2019s pursuit of draft exemptions has garnered sympathy in at least some influential quarters of the government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome people say that it\u2019s an obligation for people to defend their country, and they shouldn\u2019t have any exemption from conscription,\u201d said Yelensky. \u201cBut if we [can] try to preserve critical infrastructure, we should preserve these social and spiritual hubs, also.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, the clergy aren\u2019t taking the outcome for granted. The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, an ecumenical body that \u201crepresents more than 90 percent of all religious organizations in Ukraine,\u201d met Tuesday with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/G7\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>G7 ambassadors<\/a> to Ukraine \u2014 the top diplomats from the world\u2019s seven largest industrialized democracies. In that meeting, they described \u201cthe role of Ukrainian churches and religious organizations in countering Russian aggression and the activities of religious communities in spiritual, humanitarian, and social realms,\u201d and sought to enlist the G7 as advocates for their exemption.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[The ambassadors gave] a diplomatic, positive answer,\u201d Zaiets said.<\/p>\n<p>The debate arises in no small part from the fact that the clergy and at least some state authorities do not have a common vocabulary of religious work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo me, it\u2019s not an argument that the church will be closed \u2014 no, the church will not be closed. it\u2019s easy to find \u2026 people who are over 60 who can be a clergyman, priests and so on,\u201d said Merezhko. \u201cSo, it\u2019s not an argument. To me, it sounds just morally wrong, especially when it comes from those who claim to be morally high.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Berezhnoy countered that it takes years of training to prepare a good priest. He argued that current war arose in no small part from religious choices made following the collapse of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Soviet-Union\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Soviet Union<\/a>, when long-oppressed church leaders faced a manpower shortage of their own. They addressed that problem, according to Berezhnoy, through the hasty ordination of unqualified people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd what happens? Now, here in Ukraine, we go to war, because these priests without education started to preach [to] people that [they] need to believe in Moscow, not in Christ,\u201d he said. \u201cThey started to preach [that] Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia is like [the] Holy Trinity \u2013 [that just as it\u2019s] impossible to divide Holy Trinity means it\u2019s impossible to divide [the] three countries. And they started to preach about this [to] many people. See? Because they were not educated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Berezhnoy suggested that government authorities implement the mobilization orders in a way that allows them to divide their time between service to their regular congregations and social or humanitarian work that has direct or indirect benefits to the military. Yelensky, the head of the Ethno-Politics and Freedom of Conscience, offered a broadly similar forecast.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to preserve religious communities as a center of social and spiritual life,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is why we try to provide pastors and priests with this exemption, in different way[s]. I don\u2019t know how to do this, but we will do it in the very near future.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KYIV \u2014 Following Ukraine&#8217;s decision to enlist prison convicts due to manpower shortages, a contentious debate emerges about mobilizing clergy. Viktor Yelensky stated, &#8220;There are discussions on exempting these individuals from conscription.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2743,"featured_media":2268792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Ukraine-Joel-pic-2-061424-1024x768.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2268791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Ukraine-Joel-pic-2-061424-1024x768.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2268791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2743"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2268791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2268791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2268792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2268791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2268791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2268791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}