Let us pray for the survival of the Ukrainian church. We have witnessed the events of last week, when a law was passed by the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada to ban the national Orthodox Church. Clergymen are given nine months to join the High Orthodox Church. Otherwise, all worship will be forbidden to them, and their temples will be taken.
This is what Sofia Metropolitan and Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil called from Pernik. He led the morning worship service and the bishop's holy liturgy in the church of “St. Ivan Rilski" today.
The head of our Orthodox Church performed the service together with Bishop Pachomius of Branica, Archimandrite Ioan - protosignal of the Holy Metropolis of Sofia and priests from the Pernik clergy. “We have witnessed the events of last week, when a law was passed by the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada to ban the national Orthodox Church. Clergymen are given nine months to join the High Orthodox Church. Otherwise, they will be prohibited from worshiping, and their temples will be taken", the patriarch told the gathered laity in the Pernik temple.
He stated that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the only canonical Orthodox church of the state: "Eleven out of the fifteen local Orthodox churches have not recognized this church structure created in 2019 and it is not a canonical church. What is left when the state passes a law to close it".
According to the patriarch, the majority of Christians in Ukraine belong to the Orthodox Church and all of them are currently being put to the test, as was observed in our country at the time, when there was a schism in our church created by politicians. Our senior cleric called for the rulers to come to their senses and prevent the war in Ukraine, which, in his words, is a sad and senseless fratricide.
"It is a testimony that our life is a continuous test, and its meaning is that our path leads us to God without losing our peace in our souls and the joy of our communication with him. Let us not lose favor and love for our loved ones, even for those who cause us worry and harm. It is important to remember and guard against condemnation, accusation, anger. Enduring such a test is a sign that we are close to God's blessing and grace. said the Metropolitan of Sofia in his sermon.
We remind you that Russian Patriarch Kirill accused Ukraine of “persecuting“ believers. Kirill's statement came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier on August 24 signed a law banning the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
The Russian patriarch called on the international community to comment on the situation, AFP reported.
Patriarch Kirill, a close friend of Vladimir Putin, called on other Christian religious leaders and international organizations to “raise their voices in defense of the persecuted believers”, who he said are in a “critical” situation in Ukraine.