Pat. Irinej of Serbia about Ukraine: As if a bomb was thrown into the house
Patriarch Irinej of Serbia
The events around the Church in Ukraine are a great temptation for all Orthodoxy, said the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Irinej.
“This is not something external but a phenomenon that affects our home from inside,” reports his words Interfax-Religion. “Probably, those who harbor evil against Orthodoxy thought it out well, and what is happening in Ukraine seems to be a bomb having been thrown into our house.”
During the meeting with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus, Vladyka Irinej expressed the opinion that the Ukrainian church issue is exclusively political, yet Universal Orthodoxy must "take this matter very seriously and solve it."
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church in response stated that the attempts to tear the Ukrainian Church from the Russian Church and Kosovo from Serbia are “in a way links in one chain.”
Patriarch Irinej arrived in Moscow for celebrations on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the election of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to the patriarchal throne.
Earlier, Vladyka declared that “neither the Serbian nor the other Orthodox Churches will accept the emergence of a certain “Orthodox Pope”, meaning the actions of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in Ukraine.
None of the Local Orthodox Churches, except for Constantinople, has yet recognized the Ukrainian OCU and does not intend to take part in the enthronement of its head Epiphany.
Read also
Moldova lacks capacity to maintain 800 temples it intends to seize from Church
According to the Minister of Culture, authorities plan to seize 800 churches from the Moldovan Church, but they lack the capability to manage them.
Court returns seized church to UOC community in Ivankiv
The appellate court declared invalid the re-registration of the UOC community of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in the town of Ivankiv.
2,800-year-old seal with biblical symbols found in Israel
Israeli archaeologists have found a stone seal from the era of Judean kings with an inscription in ancient Hebrew.
Pope warns clergy against writing AI-based sermons
The head of the Roman Catholic Church warned priests about the risks of using digital technologies in ministry.
UOC parishes abroad hold memorial services on war anniversary
Clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church abroad prayed on the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
Persecuted UOC parish in Tovtry performs reading of Great Penitential Canon
Another Bukovynian community, deprived of its church, continues Great Lent services in an adapted facility.