ROC’s special commission to deal with parishes in the annexed territories
Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR) of the Moscow Patriarchate, said that the Moscow Patriarchate’s Office for Dioceses in the CIS countries will deal with the life of parishes in the annexed territories of Ukraine, ria.ru reports.
“By the decision of the Holy Synod of March 24, 2022, the Moscow Patriarchate’s Office for Dioceses in the Near Abroad was formed under the leadership of Metropolitan Pavel of Krutitsy and Kolomna. The dioceses on the territory of Ukraine are also in his purview,” said Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk.
The following dioceses of the UOC are located in the territories annexed by Russia: Donetsk and Mariupol, Luhansk, Horlivka and Slaviansk, Berdiansk and Prymorsk, Rovenky, Kherson and Tauride, Zaporizhia, Novokakhovka, Severodonetsk.
As previously reported by the UOJ, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church transferred the Crimean eparchies of the UOC to the subordination of Patriarch Kirill.
Read also
U.S. House of Representatives passes ban on sex-change surgeries for minors
The lower house of Congress supported an initiative limiting medical interventions that could have irreversible consequences for the health of minors.
Armenian Church to appeal to international bodies over government pressure
The decision was made by the Supreme Spiritual Council in Etchmiadzin against the backdrop of criminal cases, pressure on the clergy, and the state's attempts to interfere in church life.
Pashinyan's supporters attempt to storm Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Armenia
The confrontation around the Armenian Apostolic Church intensified after rebellious hierarchs called for the Catholicos's resignation and attempted to exert forceful pressure in Etchmiadzin.
Persecuted community of Maliatyntsi celebrates first patronal feast after seizure
In Bukovyna, the faithful of the St. Nicholas community in the village of Maliatyntsi celebrated the Feast Day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra in Lycia for the first time after the church seizure.
European authorities downplay scale of Christian persecution, report says
Human rights defenders reported an increase in attacks on believers in the EU and pointed out that official statistics do not reflect the real level of anti-Christian hostility.
Mukachevo Eparchy bishops congratulate orphaned children on St Nicholas Day
Metropolitan Theodore and Bishop Hilarion visited the “New Family” children’s shelter in Uzhhorod.