Chernivtsi “bishop” of OCU laments the UOC doesn’t consider him a brother

Feognost Bodoriak. Photo: OCU Press Service

Following the failed attempt by his militants to seize the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), Feognost Bodoriak, the so-called “bishop” of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in Chernivtsi, published a lengthy text accusing the UOC of unchristian behavior and of promoting the heresy of the “Russian World.”

Bodoriak who oversaw the group that brutally beat priests and stole the church’s treasury – claimed he feels a “pastoral responsibility for the development of the Local Orthodox Church in Bukovyna and for the spiritual benefit and growth of every Orthodox believer.”

He warned that “the path taken up by the faithful and society will be brought to completion, and prayers will be offered in the leading shrine of Bukovynian Orthodoxy within the fold of the OCU.”

He then lamented that the UOC does not recognize members of the OCU as “brothers equal to themselves,” but instead looks down on them and brands them with “all possible labels of the ‘Russian World’ ideology.”

“Many times, as I serve on the See of Bukovynian bishops, I have called and invited you – hierarchs and fathers – to fellowship, but received no response. Only a few conscientious priests have responded,” Bodoriak complained, adding that UOC clergy make every effort to “not even acknowledge” members of the OCU.

“And now you fear that the very people you have raised in a spirit of hostility will condemn any attempt at dialogue or meeting with us, Christians, and brand you with the same accusations you taught them to wield,” he declared.

In conclusion, Bodoriak – who fraudulently re-registered the Holy Spirit Cathedral and two other central churches of Chernivtsi in his name following a sham “parish meeting” – advised the UOC to “truthfully turn their lives to God.”

“Do not remain spiritually blind! The state is not defending the spiritual sphere in Ukraine from Jesus Christ – after all, no one is forbidden to profess Christ as Savior and God – but rather from the encroachments and influence of Russia, its chauvinistic heresy and imperialism,” Bodoriak stated.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that OCU militants who beat several cathedral priests gained access to the church by pretending to be disabled.

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