Media show protests against Phanar head’s visit throughout Ukraine

UOC believers protesting against the Phanar head’s visit to Ukraine. Photo: a screenshot from the "First Nezalezhny" YouTube channel

On August 16, 2021, Ukrainian media showed a video with protests of the believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church against the arrival of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to Ukraine.

The video report "Mass protests in Ukraine against the arrival of Patriarch Bartholomew", which appeared on the "First Nezalezhny" YouTube channel, shows how in many eparchies the UOC believers protest against the arrival of the Phanar head in Ukraine.

The laity of the UOC believe that "Bartholomew is a schism in our Church" and explain their protest against his visit by the fact that "it hurts them to listen and watch churches being destroyed".

The video shows protests against the arrival of Bartholomew, which took place in Sumy, Odessa, Volyn, Chernihiv, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Kyiv and Ternopil eparchies.

The flash mob "Bartholomew, we did not invite you" against the arrival of the Phanar head in Ukraine, was initiated in the churches of the Zaporizhzhia Eparchy. It takes place on social networks with the hashtag # STOPVARFOLOMEY. The initiative was supported in the Odessa Eparchy, calling on all caring believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to join it.

Also, the Ternopil and Rivne Eparchies of the UOC supported a flash mob against Patriarch Bartholomew’s visit to Ukraine. 

As reported, UOC believers are urged to testify to their faith before the Phanar head and come to the building of the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv at 9:00 a.m. on August 21, 2021.

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