"Priest" of OCU prays in Drabinko’s Cathedral with Copts

Andrey Dudchenko with representatives of the Coptic Church. Photo: facebook.com/a.dudchenko

On December 24, 2020, the "priest" of the OCU, Andrey Dudchenko, wrote about a liturgy, held in the cathedral that belongs to the "Metropolitan" of the OCU, Alexander Drabinko, which was served by a representative of the Coptic Church.

According to Dudchenko, the divine service was performed by "priest Thomas Ava Min for the believers of the Coptic Diaspora in Kyiv."

Dudchenko noted that Thomas Ava Mina "was sent to Ukraine by Theodore II, pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the St. Mark’s throne, for the pastoral care of Coptic Christians."

He stressed that it was "very interesting for him to watch and pray at this service", and that he "had seen and tasted before in Hurghada” exactly the same "Eucharistic bread" as the Coptic priest had brought along."

The representative of the OCU noted that he “is glad that our Christian brothers from Egypt, who once baptized a child with us, today were able to concelebrate the Liturgy with their priest and receive the Holy Communion. When I was abroad at the invitation of Ukrainian communities, other Christians, in particular Catholics, gave us the opportunity to have worship in their churches."

The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria belongs to the group of Ancient Eastern (non-Chalcedonian) churches. Like all other Ancient Eastern churches, the Coptic Church recognizes the decisions of only the first three Ecumenical Councils and does not recognize the decisions of subsequent Councils.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the OCU cleric served "liturgy" in the Catholic Church of Bethlehem.

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