Bishop of Jerusalem Patriarchate: Only UOC is recognized in the Holy Land

Archbishop Theodosios. Photo:

On September 16, 2021, at the conference "World Orthodoxy: Primacy and Conciliarity in the Light of the Orthodox Doctrine", held online, Archbishop Theodosios of Sebastia of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church stated that only one canonical Church in Ukraine is recognized in the Holy Land – the UOC, according to the website Patriarchia.ru.

Speaking at the conference, Archbishop Theodosios expressed support for the Russian Orthodox Church and noted that the Holy Land tirelessly prays for the healing of the schism and recognizes the only canonical Church in Ukraine – the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its head, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine.

Archbishop Theodosios said that during the joint divine service with His Beatitude at the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, Metropolitan Onuphry "raised his hands and prayed with tears in his eyes that this crisis would end and the Lord would bring peace to the Church of Ukraine."

“We are united by love, prayer and hope for a common future of World Orthodoxy,” summed up Archbishop Theodosios.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that according to Bishop Irinej of Bačka, the autocephaly of the OCU is a means of destroying the unity of the Church.

Read also