The mayor of Vilnius invited the "priest" of the OCU to the city celebration on the occasion of the Orthodox Christmas

Vilnius Mayor Remigius Simasius wrote on his Facebook page that the priests of the Vilnius-Lithuanian Diocese (Lithuanian Orthodox Archdiocese) are “without a doubt not invited and unwelcome” at the traditional feast hosted by the city on Vilnius Cathedral Square on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas on January 7th. This was reported on the website obzor.lt.

Those gathered in the capital square were invited to greet not a local priest, as was the case in previous years, but a representative of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine (OCU), which was not recognized by the majority of the Orthodox world.

“The Lithuanian Orthodox Archdiocese took this as an extremely unfriendly step towards the Orthodox community of Vilnius and Lithuania and expressed deep regret over the next statements and actions of Mr. Shimasius inciting inter-religious and inter-ethnic hatred,” the message says.

“The fact that the mayor of the Lithuanian capital declared representatives of the local Orthodox community, whose members are residents of Vilnius and citizens of Lithuania, undesirable at a cultural and religious city holiday will not spoil our celebration. Our churches these days will be filled with believers, and our hearts with a sense of joy and exultation over the coming into the world of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ,” the Lithuanian Church noted.