RF MFA: US put pressure on hierarchs of Cyprus and Greece to recognize OCU

Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova. Photo: mid.ru

US representatives put pressure on the hierarchy of the Cypriot and Greek Orthodox Churches so that they recognized the Ukrainian schismatics, said Russian Foreign Ministry official Maria Zakharova at a briefing.

Zakharova expressed surprise at the persistent promotion of the OCU by US representatives.

“It is a strange interest for a secular state, which is thousands of kilometres from Ukraine, does not have such historical, spiritual and cultural ties with it as Russia, and the Orthodox in it make up only about 2% of the country's population,” the diplomat said.

As reported by the UOJ, recently the US Ambassador to Greece accused the ROC of a split in world Orthodoxy and said that supporting the Phanar is a matter of America's national security.

Read also

Lavra reserve head estimates damage to Dormition Cathedral at €15 million

Maksym Ostapenko said restoring the Dormition Cathedral would take at least a couple of years and require major funding.

DESS official says state should not govern the Church

A DESS official called for cooperation between the state and the Church for the benefit of citizens.

Poltava court upholds mobilization of Protestant pastor

A court in the Poltava region ruled that a prior criminal conviction and religious beliefs do not exempt a person from military service.

Ostapenko: Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra would not exist without Soviet-era reserve

The reserve director spoke about the Soviet museum’s role in saving the monastery, while stressing the need to rethink its history.

Metropolitan Anthony criticizes DESS order on Boryspil Eparchy

The UOC chancellor rejected officials’ findings, pointing to procedural violations in the DESS review.

Two more parishes in Sloviansk reregistered under OCU

The organizer behind the transfer of UOC communities in Sloviansk said the reregistration of churches would continue.