The Romanian Patriarchate should be ashamed of what is happening in Bessarabia, - UOC hierarch

The hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Longin (Zhar) of Banchen, criticized the Romanian Patriarchate for encroaching on the canonical territory of other Local Churches. The bishop noted the attempts by representatives of the Romanian Orthodox Church to forcibly seize churches of the Orthodox Church of Moldova and their efforts to establish a foothold in Ukraine, stating that the Romanian Church should be ashamed of such actions. The bishop’s words were reported by the Telegram channel “Orthodox Moldova and the World.”

«I am ashamed of some priests who betray. I looked at our Moldova, at the road and beloved Bessarabia. Bravo to the Christians there for driving the ravenous wolf out of the church, chased him away (we are talking about a cleric from the village of Grinauti, who, without the support of the community, left the Orthodox Church of Moldova for the schismatic “Bessarabian Metropolis” and tried to transfer the temple property there as well). No one had the right, according to church canons, to interfere in the affairs of another country, another Church, because there (in Moldova) is already a metropolis (OCM). To interfere in order to destroy and cause so much evil. This sin is unforgivable,» — said Metropolitan Longin.

The bishop added that there are also cases in Ukraine when priests join the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Romanian Patriarchate accepts them. However, the hierarch believes that in this way the Romanian Church “sows evil and temptation among the people of Bukovina.”

«It is a pity for priests who sell themselves. Thank God, only a few priests have transferred to the jurisdiction of the Romanian Patriarchate, but I believe that the Romanian Patriarchate should be ashamed of what is happening in Bessarabia, in our dear, beloved, and native Moldova. And now they want to destroy our Bukovina, to sow evil again among the people, among the priests, but God will not allow this. And they will suffer greatly: woe to those through whom temptation comes, through whom sin comes,» — added the hierarch of the UOC.