“I will not betray my Church” – Abbess Seraphima explains photo with Drabynko

Abbess Seraphima and Oleksandr Drabynko. Photo: Facebook

Abbess Seraphima (Shevchyk), head of the Archangel Michael Monastery in Odesa, explained on Facebook the circumstances behind a photo of her taken together with Oleksandr Drabynko, a former UOC metropolitan who later joined the OCU.

She said she is not joining the OCU and that the photo was taken at an event honoring medical heroes.

“I did not step away from him during the event because we had worked together for many years as part of the team of His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr. My position is well known: I will not betray my native Church. I will remain on that position until death,” the abbess of the Odesa monastery stressed.

As the UOJ previously reported, Abbess Seraphima appealed on behalf of the faithful to the leaders of international institutions and G7 countries over the Ukrainian authorities’ repressions against the UOC.

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