WHAT HAS KOREA TO DO WITH UKRAINE? RUSSIA’S TRAGIC ASSAULT ON KOREAN UNITY

FR. PERRY HAMALIS, 'What has Korea to do with Ukraine? Russia’s Tragic Assault on Korean Unity'', in  The Ecumenical Patriarchate and Ukraine Autocephaly, Evagelos Sotiropoulos, Editor, May 2019, ORDER OF SAINT ANDREW THE APOSTLE, ARCHONS OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE, pp. 27-34.

 Readers may legitimately wonder, why is “Korea” the focus of an essay in a volume examining issues related to Orthodoxy in Ukraine? What might the status of the Orthodox Church in Korea reveal about the relationship between the Ecumenical Patriarchate, theMoscow Patriarchate, and the granting of autocephaly to the Church in Ukraine? In short, what has Korea to do with Ukraine? An analysis of recent events within the Church in Korea offers an unexpected but clear picture of two sharply different theologicalvisions, one manifested by the ethos and actions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the other manifested by the ethos and actions of the Patriarchate of Moscow. These two contrasting visions confront each other not only on the Korean peninsula today, as has been described incisively in the August 2017 and April 2019 interviews given by His Eminence Metropolitan Ambrosios of Korea, but across East Asia, the diaspora, and the Church worldwide. We can begin with an undeniable and tragic fact: The exemplary and exceptional unity of Eastern Orthodox Christians in the Republic of Korea is in the process of being destroyed today by the recent actions of the Moscow Patriarchate.To grasp the seriousness and diabolical nature of the current situation, one can examine the

28three main components of the above-stated claim: (1) the “exemplary” unity of the Church in Korea, (2) the “exceptional” character of Orthodox unity in Korea, and (3) the Moscow Patriarchate as the source of the division threatening Korean Orthodox unity.

 The Exemplaryand Exceptional Unity... 

First, the unity of Orthodox Christians in Korea has been exemplarybecause, for decades, it has instantiated the principle of “one city, one bishop, one Church.” This ecclesiological principle has grounded Orthodoxy since the early Church, and it is fully congruent with an exact interpretation of Orthodox canon law. Specifically, “One city, one bishop, one Church” expresses the fundamental claim and ancient practice of the Orthodox Church that the jurisdictional boundaries of autocephalous churches and of bishops within those churches are based ongeography, and nothing more than geography. Stated differently, all Orthodox Christians in one geographical region should be under the spiritual care of one presiding hierarch. Eastern Orthodox Christians in Korea have lived this reality, this true unity. Not only are all Korean natives who became Orthodox under the omophorion(the spiritual care and ecclesiastical jurisdiction)of the Metropolitan of Korea of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, all Eastern Orthodox Christiansliving in Korea—regardless of their ethnic background or country of birth—have lived in unity under one bishop. Thus, in Korea there has been no “jurisdictional overlap.” Instead, there has been a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-lingual unitedOrthodox Church, comprised of many parishes across the Korean peninsula, and led and cared for by a single local hierarch.Most significantly, this was not a unity in name only; nor was it a unity that annihilated cultural diversity. Remarkably, the 29Orthodox faithful of Korea have been living as one spiritual familycomprised of over 5,000 native Koreans, expatriates, and visitors from a wide range of countries including Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet states, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and the U.S., many of whom emigrated to Korea in the 1990s after the collapse of communism in Russia and eastern Europe. For decades, the ethnically diverse faithful have understood themselves as being one ecclesiastic body. At the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Seoul, for example, Orthodox faithful of all cultural backgrounds share a common “agapemeal” every Sunday and feast day after the Divine Liturgy; their children are all friends and attend catechism and summer camp together; and, most importantly, all of the sacraments they celebrate commemorate the one local bishop, who himself commemorates the Ecumenical Patriarch. At the same time, the distinct pastoral needs and cultural backgrounds of the multi-ethnic faithful have been respected and honored. The local language, Korean, is the dominant language of worship at all parishes; however, liturgies and other holy services in Slavonic are prayed every Sunday and on major feast days at additional parishes and chapels. In addition, the pastoral needs of non-Korean natives are met by clergy whospeak Russian, Ukrainian, English, and Greek, and who all commemorate the same local bishop. Twice a year in Seoul, the Metropolis of Korea even hosts an “International Festival” where the food, music, and dance of the faithful’s native lands are celebrated and showcased for the local community. Non-Orthodox who attend the festivals are struck by “borderless” unity of Orthodox Christians, despite the political tensions between their native countries. The structure and spirit of the Church in Korea, therefore, embody and bear witness to the ecclesiological and canonical idealof Orthodoxy, a communion that respects otherness.

The Exemplary and Exceptional Unity... 

 Second,  the  exemplary  unity  of  Orthodox  Christians  in Korea  is exceptional because  it  is  one  ofvery  few  places  in  the diaspora1where one witnesses strict congruence with the Church’s canonical  order.  The  fact  that  congruence  to  Orthodoxy’s ecclesiology has become a “rare exception” in the diaspora is a scandal  of  appalling  proportions—a  betrayal  of  the  gospel  and hypocrisy   beyond   description.   The   words   of   Fr.   Alexander Schmemann,  written  in  1964  about  the  canonical  problem  of  the diaspora, still resonate with convicting force today:“[F]or  the  first  time  in  history  division  belongs  to  the  very structure   of   the   Church,   for   the   first   time canonicity seems strangely  disconnected  from  its  fundamental  “content”  and purpose—to  assure,  express,  defend  and  fulfill  the  Church  as Divinely given Unity, for the first time, in other terms, one seems to  find  normal a multiplicity of “jurisdictions.” Truly we must wake  up  and  be  horrified  by  this  situation.  We  must  find  in ourselves the courage to face it and to re-think it in the light of the genuine  Orthodox  doctrine  and  tradition,  no  matter  what  it  will cost to our petty human likes and dislikes. ...“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God”? (1 Peter 4:17)”2.

 Across  North  and  South  America,  across  Western  Europe, across  Australia,  and  across  South-East  Asia  one  looks  for  the Orthodox Church and one finds a divided witness, a multiplicity of jurisdictions in the same geographical region. However, this has not been the case in Korea. Korea has been a sign of hope, a rare glimpse into Orthodoxy’s potential for witness and evangelism when we are  united  as  one  local  family  under  one  local  bishop,  honoring diverse  cultural  heritage  but  prioritizing  our  unity  in  Christ(cf. Gal.   3:28).   The   Eastern   Orthodox   of   Korea   have   heeded   the prophetic words of Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) of Essex:“I do not know a Greek Christ, a Russian Christ, an English Christ, an Arab Christ...Christ, for me, is everything, the supra-cosmic Being. ...When we limit the person of Christ, when  we  bring  Him  down  to  the  level  of  nationalities,  we immediately  lose  everything  and  fall  into  darkness.  Then the  way  is  open  for  hatred  between  nations,  for  hostility between social groups.”3Despite living in the perpetual shadow of political division, the   Orthodox   faithful  of   Korea   have   lived  in  exemplary   and exceptional unity in Christ...until now.

In  the  process  of  being  destroyed  by  the  recent  actions  of  the Patriarchate of Moscow

This   God-pleasing   unity   was   assaulted   by   the   Russian Orthodox  Church when,  on  December  28,  2018  and  at  subsequent meetings on February 27, 2019 and April 4, 2019, the Holy Synod of the    Moscow    Patriarchate    established    a    new    Metropolis    of Singapore  and  South-East  Asia,  including within  it  a new  Diocese of   Korea.   Metropolitan   Sergiy   (Chashin)   was   named   as   the Moscow Patriarchate’s new Metropolitan of Singapore and South-East  Asia  and  Archbishop  Theophan  (Kim)  was  named  as  the presiding hierarch of the Diocese of Korea. In recent decades—well before both Moscow’s boycott of the Holy and Great Council of Crete (2016) and the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s recent granting of Autocephaly  to  the  Church  in  Ukraine—there  have  been  many threats  and  provocations  by  the  Moscow  Patriarchate  toward  the thriving  Orthodox  community  of  Korea.  However,  nothing  as callous  or  as  contrary  to  the  ethos  of  Orthodoxy  as  this  recent development.The  Moscow  Patriarchate’s  appointment  of  a  new Metropolitan   and   Exarch   of   Singapore   and,   under   him,   an Archbishop  of  Korea  within  the  exact  geographical  jurisdiction  of the  existing  Metropolis  of  Singapore  and  South  Asia  (Ecumenical Patriarchate)     and     the     Metropolis     of     Korea     (Ecumenical Patriarchate)  are  a  direct  violation  of  the  canonical  order  of  the Orthodox Church, and of the Decision of both the 4thPre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox  Conference  (Chambésy,  June  6-13,    2009),which was  signed  by  the  representatives  of  all  autocephalous  Eastern Orthodox     Churches     (including     Metropolitan     Hilarion     of Volokolamsk)4and  the  Statement of the Council of Crete on “The Orthodox Diaspora,” signed by the 10 participating Autocephalous Churches.  It  is  a  violation  of  the  canonical  order  of  the  Orthodox Church  because  it  transgresses  the  “one  city,  one  bishop,  one Church” or “territoriality”principle of Orthodox ecclesiology. And it  is  a  violation  of  the  Decision  of  the  4thPre-Conciliar  Pan-Orthodox  Conference  and  the  statement  of  the  Holy  and  Great Council  of  Crete  on  “The  Orthodox  Diaspora”  because  it transgresses   the   agreed   upon   statement  (#7):  “The   Orthodox Churches  are bound to  avoid  actions  that  could  hinder  the  above  process for  a  canonical  resolution  of  the  issue  of  the  Diaspora,  such  as  the conferment of hierarchal titles that already exist.”5The  timing  of  these  acts  by  the  MoscowPatriarchate  is undeniably connected with the Unification Council held in Ukraine (December 15, 2018) and the subsequent granting of the “Tomos of Autocephaly” to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine on January 5, 2019. However, it  also seems undeniable that the developments in Ukraine provided a pretext for the Moscow Patriarchate to engage in unrestricted expansionist practices across the diaspora that have been  planned  for  many  years.  This  motivation  could  not  be  more clearly  seen  than  in  the  words  spoken  by Metropolitan  Hilarion immediately following the Moscow Patriarchate’s December 28thSynod meeting: “We now have some 1,000 parishes in the diaspora and several dioceses, and, of course, we have not agreed, and especially in this situation  [of  Ukraine]  we  cannot  agree  that  Constantinople  has  an exclusive   right  to   ministry   to   the   diaspora.”He   then   continued, claiming  thatthe  Moscow  Patriarchate, “will now act as if they [Constantinople]  do  not  exist  at  all  because  our  purpose  is  missionary, our task is to educate, we are creating these [new ecclesiastical] structures for  ministerial  care  [of]  our  flock,  there  can  be  no  such  deterring  factors here.”6The  events  and  words  noted  above  express  but  a  small fraction   of   the   actions   that   have   grown   out   of   the   Moscow Patriarchate, especially in recent decades. They embody a mindset that  has  no  defense  from  an  Orthodox  canonical,  ecclesiological, and  ethical  perspective.  Taking  just  one  example,  in  the  above quote,  Metropolitan  Hilarion  claims  that  the  Moscow  Patriarchate is creating new dioceses in South-East Asia “for ministerial care of our flock.” But what flock of the Moscow Patriarchate exists in the Republic  of  Korea—to  whom  will  you  minister? There  is  only  one flock  there—an  exemplary  and  exceptional  spiritualfamily  united across all ethnic, racial, gender, linguistic, or class distinctions—and it already has a shepherd: Metropolitan Ambrosios of Korea. Instead   of   supporting   the   local   faithful,   the   Moscow Patriarchate is dividing them. Instead of uniting themin Christ the Moscow   Patriarchate   is   separating   them   again   as   ethnicities. Instead   of   offering   to   collaborate   in   evangelizing   the   non-Christians  of  Korea,  the  Moscow  Patriarchate  is  proselytizing, stealing sheep from the existing Orthodox Church itself.This  is  truly  a  horrifying  scene,  a  tragedy  and  setback  for Orthodox  witness  beyond  words.  Fr.  Alexander  Schmemann—a true    Orthodox    from    Russia—understood    what    is    at    stake. Archimandrite    Sophrony—a    true    Orthodox    from    Russia—understood what is at stake. But have today’s Orthodox leaders in Moscow understood what is at stake? Not simply “jurisdictional territory” in Korea, in Ukraine, or in any other part of the diaspora, but  the  very  ecclesiology,  ethos  and  canonical  structures  that support Orthodoxy.Will God be merciful? “For  the  time  is  come  that  judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end  be  of  them  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  God”?  (1  Peter  4:17)