Metropolitan Luke invited the head of the DESS to hold a meeting with the clergy of the Zaporizhzhia Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol, a hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, invited the head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience to visit Zaporizhzhia to meet with the clergy of the Zaporizhzhia Diocese of the UOC. According to the bishop, the purpose of the event should be for Yelensky to explain the State Service’s position on a number of issues concerning the relationship between the Church and the state. The UOC hierarch published the corresponding appeal on the diocesan YouTube channel.

“Viktor Yevgenyevich! In a recent interview, you expressed your willingness to engage in dialogue with representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and noted that you are awaiting an invitation. Therefore, on behalf of the clergy of the Zaporizhzhia Diocese, I am reaching out to you and inviting you to come to Zaporizhzhia on November 13, the day of commemoration of St. Peter Kalnyshevsky, for a Divine Liturgy in which, if possible, all the priests of our Zaporizhzhia Diocese. Afterward, I propose that we hold a meeting to discuss current issues regarding the interaction between the Church and the state,” said Metropolitan Luke.

As a reminder, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) officially accused the administration of the Zaporizhzhia Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of failing to comply with the requirement to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC.