Patriarch Irinej: “Serbian” Athos backs canonical UOC

Patriarch Irinej of Serbia

The position of the Serbian monastery Hilandar on Athos in relation to the Ukrainian issue coincides with the vision of the Serbian Church, despite the fact that it belongs to the jurisdiction of Constantinople, said Patriarch Irinej of Serbia. This is written by pravoslavie.ru.

According to him, the actions of Phanar in Ukraine are destructive for Orthodoxy: “We all feel the burden of this problem. What is happening in Ukraine destroys our family. This is not some kind of phenomenon from outside – this is what is happening inside, in the very family of Orthodox Churches.”

The Serbian Archpastor added: “This remains the need of our time and the near future – to discuss the problem of Ukraine in more detail. It is necessary to figure out what extent this division can reach and what inevitable consequences it will entail. Unfortunately, these effects are already obvious and we feel the fruits of this separation.”

“I am sure that our brothers on Mount Athos are, of course, with us, with their Church. I don’t think they could take any other position that is different from ours, that of the Serbian Church,” he concluded.

As the UOJ reported, earlier Patriarch Irinej said that granting of the Tomos not only failed to bring the long-awaited peace to the land of Ukraine but also aggravated the conflict.

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