Media: Jerusalem Patriarchate is under pressure to recognize OCU

His Holiness Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and All Palestine

The Holy Synod of the Jerusalem Patriarchate has not yet made official statements regarding the newly-formed Ukrainian Church. Now, when the "bishops" of the OCU are going to visit Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Church is under serious pressure to receive the schismatics and concelebrate with them, reports "Pravoslavie.ru", referring to the source in the Jerusalem Patriarchate.

The edition notes that the Ukrainian delegation, which plans to arrive in Jerusalem on January 19th for the great feast of Theophany, includes Metropolitan Alexander (Drabinko), banned from ministry by the Holy Synod of the UOC.

"It is likely that Drabinko is being sent because as a former hierarch of the canonical Church, he can at least boast of a canonical consecration to the episcopacy, which the majority of the hierarchs of the new structure cannot, and thus they hope he will be more palatable to the hierarchs of the Jerusalem Church," writes the edition.

As reported, thus far, the Patriarchate has not agreed to receive and concelebrate with the schismatic representatives, though it is hard to say for sure what will be decided due to the pressure on the Jerusalem Church coming from multiple sides, including Constantinople, Israel, and America.

We recall that Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem said earlier that the Jerusalem Church constantly offers prayers for Ukraine and His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry, whom it considers "the most suitable person for the difficult situation the Ukrainian people find themselves in today".

Metropolitan Timothy of Vostra, Exarch of the Most Holy Sepulcher in Cyprus, stressed that the Jerusalem Orthodox Church considers His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry to be the only canonical Primate of the Orthodox believers in Ukraine, and this position remains unchanged.

On January 6, 2019, numerous representatives of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church participated in the Vigil, which was conducted by Archbishop Aristarchus of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church at the Holy Sepulcher. According to an eyewitness, the archbishop "strictly asked for the jurisdiction of concelebrants from Ukraine".

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