Primate: We humbly drink from the cup of sorrow given to us by God

His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy of Kiev and All Ukraine

On December 24, the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Onufriy of Kiev and All Ukraine, sent a letter of gratitude to the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, in which he expressed his sincere appreciation for the prayers and support during the testing period. The text of the message is published on the ROCOR website.

“The holy canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the God-loving Ukrainian people are going through one of the most difficult periods in their history,” the message of His Beatitude Onufriy says. “To our great sorrow, as a result of the ongoing hostilities in the east of Ukraine, the constant threat of the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of a whole range of anti-church laws, and especially the anti-canonical intervention of the Constantinople Patriarchate into the inner life of our Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church, some spiritual chaos has set on in Ukraine’s religious life, amid which not only the rights to religious freedom but also the constitutional rights of our believers are violated."

The Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church noted that special love in Christ and spiritual empathy on the part of the ROCOR "warm our hearts and strengthen us in the hope of God's mercy."

“With gratitude to God, we endure everything that the Lord allows to happen. The Lord gives us to drink the cup of sorrow, and we drink it with humility and gratitude to God. We believe that in spite of all the trials we are facing, the Church of Christ will remain indestructible forever and the gates of hell will not overpower Her,” emphasized His Beatitude.

In conclusion, the head of the UOC asked Metropolitan Hilarion also in the future "not to leave his fervent prayers for the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its faithful children, for peace in the Ukrainian state, as well as for the augmentation of love in the hearts of Ukrainians."

As reported by the UOJ, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, which took place on December 6-10, declared the full support of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy, the clergy and congregation of the UOC. The ROCOR bishops noted that the claims of the Constantinople Patriarchate to universal jurisdiction constitute a new threat to the Church of Christ.

Earlier, the Eastern American Eparchy of the ROCOR expressed love and prayerful support in the tests the UOC has been subjected to from the non-canonical actions of Constantinople.

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