Patriarch Kirill urged to pray for persecuted UOC clergymen

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has appealed to intensify prayers for clergymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), who, according to him, are being persecuted. Particular attention was paid to Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatogorsk, who has been re-imprisoned despite serious health problems. The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church also noted the scale of persecution, including criminal cases, prison terms and deprivation of citizenship against clerics of the canonical Church.

According to the press service of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill called for «prayerful remembrance of the archpastors, shepherds, monastics and laypeople of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who are undergoing real persecution, up to and including imprisonment in prisons and dungeons». He emphasized the need for prayer for Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatogorsk, who, according to the statement, was re-imprisoned despite his «gravest state of health.»

In his address, the Patriarch also cited statistics, according to which 40 clergymen of the UOC have been sentenced to various terms of imprisonment over the past four years. The total number of initiated criminal proceedings against clerics of the canonical Church has now reached 208. In addition, 19 clergymen, including His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kyiv and All Ukraine, were deprived of Ukrainian citizenship and the right to reside in Ukraine.

Earlier, the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, commented on the situation in which the Ukrainian Orthodox Church found itself. The hierarch noted that the UOC is facing unprecedented persecution and severe pressure from the Ukrainian government, which does not allow the leadership of the Church to fully respond to the challenges ahead. At the same time, Metropolitan Antony noted that despite the pressure, the hierarchs of the UOC are not drifting into schism, but remain faithful to their Church.