Priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church conducted services in the Holy Land

As part of their pilgrimage, representatives of the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church celebrated a series of joint liturgies with clergy of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem. The highlight of the visit was the concelebration of the night Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

The delegation, composed of Ukrainian clergy, was led by Archpriest Andrei Serman, who serves as chairman of the Pilgrimage Department of the Chernivtsi-Bukovina Diocese. In addition to the holiest site in the Christian world, joint services were held at the Tomb of the Most Holy Mother of God in Gethsemane, as well as at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

The pilgrimage program included visits to key sites associated with the earthly lives of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, as well as the traditional baptism in the waters of the Jordan River. Earlier, it was reported that pilgrims from the Volyn Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church also had the opportunity to meet with Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem.

As a reminder, Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem had previously announced his intention to act as a mediator to end the conflict in Ukraine. The primate stated that he plans to hold talks with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to help overcome the church schism and stop the bloodshed.