Fr Tykhon Kulbaka is a Ukrainian Catholic Byzantine priest from Lviv and a native of Donetsk who became famous throughout Ukraine after being captured by separatists in 2014. He has announced the beginning of an exorcism ritual aimed at Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Newsroom (28/02/2022 5:30 PM) In a Feb. 25 post on Facebook, Father Tykhon Kulbaka announced he “would like to inform you that I have decided to use my status as a priest of the united, holy, conciliar church, to whom I have the grace and privilege to be for 30 years. As of today, I am committed to performing a daily exorcism ritual aimed at Vladimir Putin. I believe that an evil spirit inspires the actions of this man.”
Exorcism aims to cast out demons or free individuals from demonic influence by the power of spiritual authority that Jesus gave to his church.
“I ask the merciful God either to free this person from demonic influence and make them renounce evil and stand up for good (or) destroy such a devil bodily so that the soul may be saved in the day of the Lord,” wrote the priest. “I will be happy if one of the fellow priests joins me. Also, I would be delighted if some of the faithful supported us, the priests, in the way available to them (specific prayers are available to the laity with requests for deliverance from the evil spirit),” notes Father Kulbaka.
Captivity
Father Kulbaka spent 12 days in captivity after being captured on July 4, 2014, when pro-Russian forces occupied Donetsk and Luhansk. Since then, thousands have been killed and maimed, and more than 1.5 million people have fled.
Father Kulbaka recounts that, after the militants learned that the priest had diabetes, they gave him white bread and very little water, trying to harm his health. The priest was reduced to the extreme of drinking water from the toilet tank. “‘You are our enemy! You’re going to die long and slow unless you convert,” they said.
At this, Fr Kulbaka retorted that he would never renounce his belonging to the Ukrainian Catholic Church to join the church aligned with the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
On the 12th day of captivity, the priest was taken to the field and left in his car. As it turned out, Mufti Said Izmagilov played an active role in the priest’s release. Father Kulbaka did not say anything about the captivity for three months, fearing for the safety of his parishioners.
He could recount the events only after most of them left the occupied territory.
“I was pushed against the wall and told to pray. I began to pray in a loud voice. Automatic fire sounded above my head. I had never heard how an automatic gun sounds in the silence of the forest and so close to me. I fainted. The next time I was taken somewhere I knew they would repeat this ritual, but every time I was wondering whether it would be above my head or already in my head.”
“When I asked them what my fault was, one of them said: ‘You prayed for Ukraine! Imagine anyone in 1942 praying for the victory of Stalin in central Berlin. Hitler would kill them on the spot.”
(Via Religious Information Service of Ukraine)
Compiled by Raju Hasmukh
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