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OCU Removes Spitting on Satan from Baptismal Rite
Dudchenko said the OCU has removed the traditional gesture of spitting on Satan from its baptismal book, arguing that its meaning no longer comes across to contemporary audiences.
KYIV — As reported by UOJ-Ukraine, Andrey Dudchenko, a cleric of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and secretary of its Synodal Theological-Liturgical Commission, has said that the OCU’s current Trebnik, or Book of Needs, no longer includes the traditional baptismal action of blowing and spitting on Satan, explaining that the gesture now tends to provoke amusement rather than convey its intended meaning.
Dudchenko discussed the change during an appearance on the Faith Talks podcast on the YouTube channel Orthodox Easterners, where he debated Tatyana Gaid.
“Eternal meanings must be embodied in modern forms, understandable to modern people. For example, spitting during baptism is not perceived adequately by people today. And in the modern rite, in the Trebnik of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, this rite has been removed; it is no longer there, because today it only evokes a smile,” Dudchenko said.
Earlier in the discussion, he had explained the traditional gesture, in which a person being baptized, after renouncing Satan three times, is instructed to blow and spit toward him before turning westward away from darkness and facing east toward Christ. Dudchenko described the action as an expression of a Christian’s rejection of evil, calling it a challenge to the “proud spirit of evil,” rather than an act of superstition.
Previously, the UOJ reported that an Iowa council meeting opened with an invocation to Satan.
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