Hierarch of the Jerusalem Patriarchate issued a proclamation in support of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

The hierarch of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, Archbishop Theodosius of Sebastia, has issued an appeal to the Christian churches of the world, in which he described the plight of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and called on them to stand up for the clergy and believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This is reported by the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem.

«Attacks on bishops, priests, monks and nuns, seizure of Churches and monasteries, threats to ban the Church, which has been present in Ukraine for a thousand years and is the first, oldest and most ancient Church in Ukraine. Silence in the face of the persecution of this Church, led by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry, and the bishops who serve this Church with devotion and sincerity, as well as the fathers and monks, is unacceptable. The people of this Church are attached to it and firmly hold on to their belonging to it», — the message reads.

The hierarch drew attention to the fact that in Ukraine there is persecution of believers for their belonging to canonical Orthodoxy and called not to remain indifferent to this issue.

«The oppression faced by the legitimate and canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine should attract the attention of all Christian Churches, human rights and humanitarian organizations, as this kind of oppression is a form of religious persecution. Our brothers in Christ are being purposefully persecuted for belonging to the legitimate Orthodox Church. It is very important to demand from the authorities in Kiev that they stop their aggressive activities and unacceptable and unjustified persecution of this brotherly Church», — the hierarch said.

The hierarch, on behalf of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, expressed support for the episcopate, clergy and faithful of the UOC.

«From Jerusalem we express our solidarity with the Church in Ukraine, its bishops, priests and people. You are present in our prayers, and we pray that God preserves you in these difficult times, when you are persecuted by a system that does not want to do good to the Orthodox Church, whose target is you, as followers of the original and only canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine», — concluded Archbishop Theodosius.

We will remind, earlier we reported that on May 13, 2023, a procession took place in Belgrade, which was attended by Serbian believers from the organization «Pilgrimage Vidovdan». Their goal was to pray for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and to draw public attention to the problem of persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, from which churches and shrines are being taken away.