UOC comments on Embassy’s congratulation to SOC Patriarch on behalf of OCU

Metropolitan Mitrofan of Lugansk and Alchevsk. Photo: news.church.ua

The head of the UOC DECR, Metropolitan Mitrofan of Lugansk and Alchevsk, commented to the UOJ on the actions of the Ukrainian Embassy in Serbia, which posted on its social media accounts the text of a “fraternal greeting” by Sergei (Epiphany) Dumenko to the newly elected Patriarch of Serbia Porfirije.

The Metropolitan said that this means only one thing – the Ukrainian authorities at the state level support the pseudo-religious organization of the OCU, thereby violating the Constitution and the Law on Freedom of Conscience, whereby all religions, confessions and religious organizations are equal before the law.

“According to the Constitution, the state is obliged to be equidistant from all confessions. But in practice it turns out differently. The OCU appears to be "more equal than everyone else," the bishop noted. “For some reason, our Embassy in Serbia does not post the congratulations of His Beatitude Onuphry to Patriarch Porfirije (on its accounts – Ed.). This once again testifies to the fact that the laws and the Constitution are not observed in Ukraine, everything is very sad, but it’s no news to us."

Metropolitan Mitrofan doubted that Dumenko's congratulations would compel the Serbian Patriarch to recognize the OCU, since the newly elected Patriarch stands on canonical principles and advocates for church unity.

“It is unlikely that Dumenko’s congratulation will have any impliacations for the OCU; all the more, knowing the position of the late Patriarch Irinej and a number of bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, they are firmly opposed to the OCU. The newly elected Patriarch has repeatedly made it clear that he does not consider the OCU even a member of the Orthodox Church,” Vladyka added.

As the UOJ previously reported, the Foreign Ministry promoted Dumenko's "fraternal greeting" to Patriarch Porfirije.

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