Zoria on co-serving with BOC: Not recognition of OCU, but a line of thought

The co-service of the head of the Phanar, hierarchs of the BOC and representatives of the OCU in the temple of the Icon of the Mother of God ‘Life-Giving Source’ in Istanbul. Photo: religionpravda.com.ua

Spokesperson of the OCU Yevstratiy Zoria, who along with Avraamiy Lotysh concelebrated in Istanbul with several hierarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, in a comment to religionpravda, explained what, in his opinion, this was about.

He believes that this "historical event" only indicates the line of thought within the Bulgarian Church.

In response to the direct question of whether this is recognition of the OCU by the BOC, Zoria said, "The answer cannot be one-worded, because on the one hand – the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has created its commission to study all aspects related to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. No negative or positive decision has been made over this time, however, the event of joint service indicates the line of thought and positions that dominate in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church."

He hopes that further steps will definitely follow after the election of the Bulgarian Patriarch, on June 30.

As the UOJ wrote, Bulgarian media published a letter from the late Patriarch Neophyte to former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Andriy Parubiy, in which the Patriarch spoke about the attitude of the Bulgarian Church towards the UOC.

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