Romanian Church: OCU recognition will increase pressure on Ukrainian believers

Believers at the St. Nocholas Church of the UOC in Chernivtsi. Photo: wikipedia

The Romanian Patriarchate commented on the appeal of Ukraine's ambassador in Bucharest, Ihor Prokopchuk, to recognize the OCU, which was voiced shortly after Dumenko's structure attempted to seize the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Chernivtsi. According to the Romanian publication Stiripesurse, the Romanian Orthodox Church believes that recognizing the OCU will only intensify the persecution of believers in Ukraine.

The Romanian Church is convinced that recognizing the OCU "will automatically lead to increased pressure (on Romanian believers of the UOC. – Ed.) from the Ukrainian authorities to force them to come under the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Epifaniy."

The Patriarchate emphasized the hostile attitude of the Ukrainian state towards Romanian Orthodox believers through the non-observance of their right to practice their faith? which, in their belief, completely contradicts the respectful attitude of the Romanian state towards Ukrainian parishioners in Romania.

Furthermore, the Patriarchate criticized the refusal of the Ukrainian authorities to register the religious association of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Ukraine. The promises of the Ukrainian authorities to guarantee the celebration of services in Romanian seem to lack credibility, especially in the context in which the same authorities boast of the celebration of the first service in Ukrainian in a church in Chernivtsi that was taken over abusively, on the frontispiece of which is written in Romanian, in Cyrillic characters: "One in three hypostases - God". This situation raises serious questions about the sincerity and good faith of their actions", the Romanian Orthodox Church also explained.

As reported by the UOJ, the Romanian Church responded to Ukraine's appeal to recognize the OCU.

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