Earlier we reported that the Ukrainian government, represented by the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, refused to register the Romanian Patriarchate in the “Romanian Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” which the Romanian Orthodox Church established at its Synod in February 2024. According to Kyiv, this idea contradicts “Orthodox ecclesiological localism.”
Romanian patriarch urged the Romanian authorities to influence the government of Ukraine in connection with the scandal around the UOC church in Chernivtsi
The Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Daniel of Romania, called on the Romanian government to influence the Ukrainian authorities in connection with the scandal over the Three Holy Saints’ Church, the tomb of the Bukovinian metropolitans of the Romanian-speaking parish of the UOC of Chernivtsi, which the city authorities sealed and transferred to the OCU. Patriarch Daniel believes that such actions of the city authorities of Chernivtsi are pressure on the Orthodox Romanians of Bukovyna. This is reported on the official website of the Romanian Patriarchate.
“The Romanian Patriarchate has noted with regret and sadness the fact that services in Romanian can no longer be performed in the chapel of the Metropolitans of Bukovyna, metropolitans who spoke and served in Romanian, and stands in solidarity with the Orthodox Romanians of Chernivtsi who demand the resumption of services in Romanian in that historic chapel. Although the Romanian clergy and believers in the Chernivtsi region are not members of the Romanian Orthodox Church but belong to another Orthodox Church, we cannot remain indifferent to the confiscation by the authorities, with various administrative justifications, of the symbol of Romanian identity and the violation of the religious freedom of Romanian Orthodox Christians,” — the statement reads.
Patriarch Daniel added that the Romanian government should ensure the unimpeded satisfaction of the religious needs of Orthodox Romanians in Ukraine, for which it is necessary to allow the Romanian Orthodox Church to operate in Bukovyna.
“In this regard, we, together with the Romanian organizations that have written to us, ask for the support of the Romanian authorities (in relations with — ed.) with the Ukrainian authorities so that Romanians can freely pray in their native language and come to the Romanian Orthodox Church if they wish,” — the Patriarch added.
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