Antiochian Patriarch calls for a council on the UOC issue

Patriarch John X of Antioch and Metropolitan Onufriy. Photo: orthodoxtimes.com

On August 24, 2024, His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East sent a letter to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy of Kyiv and All Ukraine, expressing support for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in light of the Verkhovna Rada's adoption of bill No. 8371, according to orthodoxtimes.com.

At the beginning of the letter, Patriarch John X quoted the Savior: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18).

The Patriarch noted that bill No. 8371 is a “collective punishment inflicted upon millions of believers whose only 'sin' is that they remain loyal to the Orthodox faith received from the saints according to the apostolic succession.”

“In this difficult circumstance that your Holy Church is going through, we would like to assure you that our Patriarchate of Antioch stands by the side of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, whose faithful people are confessors and witnesses. We call upon all believers to offer prayers that the Lord God may sustain in the faith all your Church’s hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and faithful. May God give you strength and patience to endure hardship, maintain the purity of the faith, wipe all tears from your eyes, and forgive your persecutors,” the letter reads.

Patriarch John X also reiterated that “the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the only Church in Ukraine that is in Eucharistic communion with all local Orthodox Churches, enjoying apostolic succession and valid priesthood. Thus, the attempt to ban and abolish this Church is an abolition to the oldest legitimate Orthodox Church in this country.”

The Antiochian Patriarchate has joined the calls of the Heads of Local Orthodox Churches to defend the UOC and proposed convening a General Council to seek a comprehensive solution to the Ukrainian church issue. “We assure you again that we will spare no effort in raising our voices for you and appealing to all the good people in this world, especially to all Christian leaders, governments, international organizations, and defenders of human rights and religious freedoms, for putting an end to the religious discrimination and violence occurring against your Church, a matter which constitutes a dangerous precedent in the twenty first century and which should not be tolerated and perpetuated,” emphasized Patriarch John X.

As reported by the UOJ, Bulgarian Patriarch Daniel also expressed support for the persecuted UOC.

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