Sumy deputies urge to show "civil maturity" and withdraw from UOC
Sumy City Council
Deputies of the Sumy city council called priests and religious communities of the city of Sumy "to withdraw from the subordination to the Moscow Patriarchate and support the canonical autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine". This is stated in the appeal of January 21, 2019, which the deputies addressed to the residents of Sumy in connection with the formation of the OCU.
“Our Ukrainian Church, founded by Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir in the city of Kiev in 988, has a history different from the Russian Orthodox Church,” says the document at the disposal of the UOJ.
Also, deputies report that the Russian Church originated in 1448 and call the bestowal of Tomos "an analogue of the declaration of independence of Ukraine in the spiritual sphere".
In addition to an excursion into the history of Orthodoxy, the deputies expressed the conviction that after receiving the Tomos, the newly-formed OCU equally interacts with other Orthodox Churches of the world, while the UOC "from the point of view of canon law is finally strengthened in the status of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine".
“But we will not allow the enemies of Ukraine to incite inter-faith hatred and preserve peace and calm in our state,” the Sumy deputies said, accusing the ROC of imposing the “aggressive and heretical ideologeme of the ‘Russian world’.”
“We, deputies of the Sumy city council, are convinced that the Church is a community of believers, which is an integral part of the Ukrainian people. Therefore, we call upon priests, parishioners, religious communities of the city of Sumy to show their civic maturity, to withdraw from submission to the Moscow Patriarchate and support the canonical autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” the deputies urged in their address.
As reported by the UOJ, “due to the large number of petitions to the Sumy Eparchial Administration of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine from residents of the region”, the “archbishop” of the UOC KP Methodius (Sribniak) addressed the heads of territorial communities of the Sumy region regarding the organization of “transfers” of religious communities to the OCU .
Read also
"Stigmatization based on faith": DESS reprimands TSN for story about Muslims
DESS criticized TSN because "the investigation in the "1+1" news story immediately took on an accusatory bias, and the accused themselves were not given a voice."
His Beatitude Onuphry: Through fasting, man returns to Paradise
On Forgiveness Sunday, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry reminded the faithful about Adam's fall and urged them to repent before Great Lent.
Archbishop of Greece speaks about his successor and the Church's future
On the occasion of the 18th anniversary of his leadership of the Greek Church, the Primate gave an interview in which he spoke about relations with the state, the situation in Sinai, and the challenges of the modern world.
In Barcelona, Sagrada Familia’s central tower completed after 144 years
In Barcelona, a glass cross was installed on the Sagrada Familia temple, completing the central tower and bringing the building to the height of 172.5 meters.
On Forgiveness Sunday, His Beatitude Onuphry celebrates Liturgy at Lavra
During Cheesefare Week, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry celebrated the Liturgy at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, addressed the flock with a sermon, and offered prayers for peace and the preservation of Ukraine's people.
In Hnidyn, St. Nicholas Church of UOC damaged by shelling
As a result of shelling, the St. Nicholas Church of the UOC in the village of Hnidyn of the Boryspil Eparchy was damaged.