Legoida: Pro-Phanar OCCLS hierarch acts in Brno like the OCU in Ukraine

The police intervened in the conflict over the change of the church's rector in Brno. Photo: pravoslavbrno.cz

The police intervened in the conflict over the change of the church's rector in Brno. Photo: pravoslavbrno.cz

Vladimir Legoida, head of the ROC Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media, commented on his telegram channel on the actions of the pro-Phanar vicar bishop Isaiah (Slaninka) in the city of Brno (Czech Republic), where he had changed the locks in the church in honor of the Holy Martyr Wenceslas of the OCCLS, whose parishioners are against the resignation of their rector and seizure of their temple.

The spokesman of the Russian Orthodox Church noted the similarity in the actions of the bishop, who concelebrated with Sergei Dumenko, with the attacks of the OCU activists on the temples of the canonical UOC. “The actions of Bishop Isaiah to unexpectedly change the locks on one of the churches are very much reminiscent of the actions of another Phanar’s ‘maternalized institution’ – the OCU in Ukraine, whose adepts use the same methods to seize temples from the believers of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” Legoida wrote.

He also noted that Bishop Isaiah, in principle, does not have the authority to appoint or dismiss priests, being the vicar of the Olomouc-Brno diocese. “It is a pity that lately news related to Phanar’s emissaries or wards has been invariably accompanied by the reports of yet another act of violence against believers, injustices and some insidious political games,” summed up the spokesman of the Russian Orthodox Church.

As the UOJ reported, due to the actions of the pro-Phanar bishop Isaiah, the church of St. Martyr Wenceslas was shut down in Brno (the Czech Republic), while the faithful are forced to hold services outdoors.

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