We will remind, earlier the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfiry criticized the ongoing pressure and attempts to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The hierarch noted that taking advantage of the military conflict in Ukraine, the UOC wants to take away the church property and transfer it to a loyal religious structure.
Bulgarian patriarch urged believers to pray for persecuted UOC
The Primate of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Daniel, called on believers to pray for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is under pressure from the state. According to the First Hierarch, the UOC is being banned to please the OCU, which is recognized by only 4 of the 15 Local Churches. The words of the Bulgarian Patriarch are reported by GLASOVE.
“We are witnessing the events of last week, when the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed a law banning the national Orthodox Church. The clergy were given a nine-month period during which they must join the ‘higher Orthodox Church’. Otherwise, they will be banned from any worship and their churches will be taken away,” — the patriarch told the laity gathered in the church.
The patriarch added that the UOC is the only canonical Church in Ukraine, but the government is trying to impose on society the favor of the OCU, which is recognized by only 4 of the 15 Local Churches, while the UOC has Eucharistic communion with the entire world Orthodoxy.
“Eleven out of fifteen local Orthodox churches did not recognize this church structure, created in 2019, and it is not a canonical church. What is left when the state passes a law on its closure,” — said the head of the BOC.
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