Video has emerged online of a Ukrainian clergyman from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate ignoring instructions from Kyiv’s police patros. In the recording he tells his driver to drive on after his car was stopped for a traffic violation.
Metropolitan Pavel,
the father superior of Kyiv’s Pecherska-Lavra monastery complex, is seen asking a police officer
if he had been to church, according to the video footage. He then tells the police officer to “think of
his soul,” before getting back into luxury Mercedes S-Class car, which then
drives off.
The video was shot on July 28 near the
gates of the monastery, but the footage only came to light online on Sept 6.
In an official statement posted on Facebook
on Sept.7, the Kyiv police said the clergyman hadn’t been arrested
because of the presence of large numbers of churchgoers at the scene of the
traffic stop.
“Yes, a traffic violation by the priests’
car was recorded at the end of July. But because of the presence of many
believers, police officers decided not to escalate the conflict and did
not arrest the lawbreaker,” the police statement read.
Commenting to the Kyiv Post, Metropolitan Pavel said the police had not arrested or ticketed either him or his driver simply because he and his driver had not in fact broken any rules.
According to Metropolitan Pavel, the reason the Patrol Police stopped his Mercedes car was because it had passed through a no-entry sign near the entrance to the Lavra complex.
“I have used that way to go to work for 22 years already. That is true. But I do so because I have the right to. The no-entry sign does not apply to me,or to the other cars of Lavra Monastery staff workers,” he told the Kyiv Post.
The video shows Metropolitan Pavel, in
response to a request to see his chauffeur’s driving license, say that he has been “driving
that way for 22 years already, and you (the police) appeared only three weeks ago.”
Kyiv’s police took their oaths on
July 4.
When the officer continues to insist that
there has been a traffic violation, the clergyman says “It’s nothing, Glory to
God!” and immediately gets back in his car and orders his driver to move off.
In the police statement, Kyiv police said it approved of the decision made by its officers not to escalate
the incident by arresting Metropolitan Pavel.
“We want to remind (the public) that there are
no lawbreakers with special status for our officers. They have already given
tickets to members of parliament, and many others who thought themselves to be
above the law in Ukraine,” the statement reads.
According to Ukrainian traffic rules the
entry restriction sign in question indeed does not apply to drivers who use a fixed
route, disabled persons, and drivers of cars belonging to workers of a
traffic-restricted zone.
“So, as you see, there was no reason to draw up a protocol. Even if I had been guilty, the police would
probably have sent me a ticket later, via the postal service. But it is
September and nobody has sent me anything yet,” the clergyman said.
While the cause of the stop may not have been an actual violation,
Metropolitan Pavel broke another rule by driving off without the permission of
the attending police officer. Explaining this, the clergyman said he had been
in a hurry to tend to his flock.
“The incident took place on July 28, which was the
anniversary of the Baptism of the Rus’ – a great Orthodox holiday. I was
hurrying to distribute food to more than 1,000 believers, and had no time to
talk to the police,” Metropolitan Pavel said.
According to the clergyman, that was the reason he asked the
officer whether he had been to church that day, and then advised the officer to
think of his soul.
Despite his explanations, the video will do nothing to
improve the public image of the clergyman, who has been the subject of scandal
before.
Online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda earlier reported that the
father superior and the archbishop of Chernihiv and Chernobyl has several
luxury cars and a mansion near Kyiv. His S-class Mercedes car costs more than Hr 2
million, and according to the Interior Ministry, the personalized number plate (АА0004МВ)on
the clergyman’s car costs Hr 20,000 to register.
Metropolitan Pavel also had close ties with
ousted former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s allies. Back in 2010 he
blessed the private office of Mykola Azarov, the former prime minister of Ukraine
who is now wanted in Ukraine and internationally by Interpol
for embezzlement and abuse of power.
Kyiv Post writer Veronika Melkozerova can be reached at
[email protected]
