Brethren of Zographou Monastery express support for His Beatitude Onuphry

The Zographou Monastery. Photo: Mount Athos Pilgrimage Service website

The monks of the Zographou Monastery hope that the UOC will come out purified from the furnace of persecution.

The brethren of the Zographou Monastery addressed words of support to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine. The letter of the Bulgarian monks from the Holy Mount Athos monastery was published on the website of the Lovech Diocese of the BOC.

"Our brotherhood remembers how you came to us on your pilgrimages to the Holy Mountain and we prayed together to our common Creator and received the Holy Mysteries of Christ," the letter said.

The Zographou monks emphasize that they also warmly welcomed other hierarchs, priests, and believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

"Just as we shared the joy of fellowship and brotherly love before, we now sympathize with the great sorrows that have befallen the Church of Christ in Ukraine. Persecutions of hierarchs, monks, and believers only exacerbate the tragedy of fratricidal events unfolding in your country," the monastics note.

Expressing sincere support for all Ukrainian believers, the Athonite monks assured that they pray for peace throughout the world and for the triumph of justice and truth in Ukraine.

"By God's providence, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will come out purified from the furnace of persecution," the monks added.

Earlier, the BOC reported that Orthodox Bulgarians issued an appeal in defence of the UOC.

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