UOC priest: RF authorities gave an ultimatum to Metropolitan of Berdiansk

Metropolitan Ephraim. Photo: Berdiansk Diocese

Priest Dmitry Arabadzhi, who was a cleric of the Berdiansk Eparchy in the village of Akimovka but managed to leave the occupied territory, in an interview with Archdeacon Andriy Palchuk, shared how Metropolitan Ephraim of Berdiansk was compelled to leave the diocese. The interview is published on the YouTube channel "Joyful Deacon."

According to him, from the very beginning of the occupation, Metropolitan Ephraim constantly contacted the clergy and supported each priest. However, at some point, new "authorities" began to exert pressure on him to take certain steps they needed.

"I learned that the bishop was faced with a choice. He was made 'proposals': to accept Russian citizenship, stop mentioning His Beatitude Onuphry in services, and transfer the Berdiansk Diocese under the omophorion of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill. In legal terms, this means that he had to transfer its Charter to the ROC," said the priest, adding that the hierarch responded with a refusal.

"That's why he left, left involuntarily. Although in official Russian media, both church and secular, it was said that he had abandoned his flock. They made him a bad hierarch and a man who thought only of himself and fled," said Fr. Dmitry.

He stated that the hierarch served Radonitsa on April 25 and was forced to leave the next day. During the trip through the occupied territory, he was accompanied by Russian special services.

"And almost immediately, work began to subordinate the Berdiansk Diocese to the Moscow Patriarchate," said Fr. Dmitry. According to him, he and some other priests managed to contact His Beatitude Onuphry. They warned the Primate of the UOC that a "transition" to the jurisdiction of the ROC was being prepared and asked him what to do.

"His Beatitude clearly and unambiguously said that he did not bless any transition to another jurisdiction. 'We are children of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and we don't need to go anywhere.' It was a great relief for us; we received support from our Primate," said the priest.

Earlier, it was reported that the Metropolitan of Berdiansk banned four clerics of the diocese from the priesthood for violating the oath.

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