Cypriot cleric: In Ukraine I saw the scale of mistake made by Phanar head

Archimandrite Nektarios and Bishop Athanasius at the Volyn Theological Seminary. Photo: VTS

In Ukraine, I saw what a mistake Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople made. The clergyman of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, Archimandrite Nektarios (Bakopoulos), said this at a meeting with students and teachers of the Volyn Theological Seminary on September 14, 2021, the press service of the Volyn Theological Seminary reports.

The meeting took place with the blessing of Archbishop Nathaniel of Volyn and Lutsk. It was also attended by the deputy head of the DECR of the UOC, Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, the vicar of the Volyn diocese, Bishop Athanasius of Kamen-Kashirsky, and the rector of the Volyn Seminary, Archimandrite Evmeniy (Mikhalevsky).

Archimandrite Nektarios is the secretary of the Tamassos and Orinis diocese, the ruling bishop of which, Metropolitan Isaiah, is one of the seven bishops of the Cypriot Church who support the position of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its Primate, His Beatitude Onuphry. In 2019, the cleric already came to Ukraine to meet with Orthodox communities affected by the church raiding of the OCU. During his current visit to Volhynia, he visited parishes in the villages of Rakov Les, Nuino and Bronitsa.

At a meeting with the future pastors of the UOC, the Cypriot Archimandrite spoke about his life path, how he found in himself a vocation to the priesthood and monasticism. He also shared his experience of working with young people and gave seminarians some advice.

After the lecture, Archimandrite Nektarios answered the questions of those present, including about the urgent problem for the UOC and the entire Ecumenical Church, eventuated by the actions of the head of Phanar in Ukraine.

“You should know that you are on the right path,” said the clergyman of the Cypriot Orthodox Church. “Therefore, hold on to the true canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, your Primate Metropolitan Onuphry and your bishops. <...> I was in your villages, where people lost their temples, I saw their pain, which tends to suggest the scale of Patriarch Bartholomew's mistake."

After communication, which went on almost until the night, the teachers and students of the VTS took a joint photo with Father Nektarios. As a blessing, the Archimandrite presented the seminarians with the icons of the Savior.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that a cleric of the Cypriot Church took part in the consecration of the UOC temple in the village of Rakov Les, built to replace the seized one.

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