A hierarch of the Bulgarian Church sent a petition to a court in Kyiv in defense of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Metropolitan Gabriel of Lovech issued an official statement addressed to the Kyiv judges hearing the lawsuit filed by the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (GESS) against the Kyiv Metropolis. The hierarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church called on representatives of the Ukrainian judiciary to demonstrate impartiality and be guided by spiritual principles, warning of the serious consequences of the possible dissolution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) for the entire global Orthodox world. This was reported to by the UOC’s attorney, Archpriest Nikita Chekman.

In his letter, the text of which was made public by Archpriest Nikita Chekman, Metropolitan Gabriel emphasized that the decision in this case “is of exceptional importance” and extends far beyond the borders of a single country. The hierarch recalled that the Bulgarian Church has historically recognized the UOC as the sole canonical church structure in Ukraine, citing the position of the late Patriarchs Maxim and Neophyt.

The statement paid particular attention to Bulgaria’s historical experience in the 1990s, when the country faced a church schism, persecution, and the seizure of churches. Metropolitan Gabriel expressed the view that attempts to legally eliminate the UOC through the intervention of secular authorities violate the sacred canons and norms of the Ecumenical Councils. “According to the law you have adopted… the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was ‘condemned in advance’ simply because it is canonical,” noted the representative of the Bulgarian Church.

Concluding his message, the bishop called on the judges to act in accordance with the words from the Second Book of Chronicles, emphasizing that justice is “God’s work,” requiring judges to be free from injustice and partiality. This appeal marked yet another act of international support for the canonical Church amid the ongoing legal proceedings.

As a reminder, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church expressed its support for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) amid the ongoing legal proceedings stemming from a lawsuit filed by the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (GESS), aimed at dissolving the Kyiv Metropolis. Corresponding appeals from Bulgarian Patriarch Daniel and a number of metropolitans of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church were submitted to the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal in Kyiv and the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC.