Patriarch Kirill: There is disunity within some Churches due to Ukraine

Patriarch Kirill. Photo: rbc.ru

The Primate of the ROC, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, said that there is alienation within some Local Orthodox Churches because of Ukraine.

In his address to the participants of the XXVIII Annual General Assembly of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy in Crete, Patriarch Kirill noted that the unity of world Orthodoxy "is now facing a serious threat".

“Special efforts are required of us today to find new approaches to overcome existing divisions. In particular, it is necessary to strengthen solidarity in support of suffering brothers in the Middle East, North Africa, Kosovo and Metohija, Ukraine, as well as everywhere where Christians are persecuted and where the Orthodox Church is fighting to preserve its historical, spiritual and cultural heritage," wrote the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Patriarch Kirill stated: "We are witnesses of how today the integrity of the global Orthodox family has endured a great blow as a result of the division caused by the anticanonical actions aimed at legalizing the schism in Ukraine."

“The Ukrainian Orthodox Church continues to be discriminated against, her church buildings continue to be seized, her rights limited (including her legal rights), right up to being forcibly denied the right to use her own proper name,” the Patriarch recalled.

He emphasized that "this alienation among Orthodox Christians as a result of ecclesiastical events in Ukraine has, unfortunately, gone beyond its confines and spread to a number of Local Orthodox Churches".

The Primate of the Russian Church firmly believes that a way out of this crisis is possible only by returning to the canonical Tradition of the Orthodox Church while being open to dialogue.

Earlier, that according to Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira (the Orthodox Church of Greece), the Tomos of the OCU is a source of many evils and a gaping ulcer.

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