Montenegrin priest condemns Ukrainian authorities for persecution of UOC

Divine service in Bar. Photo: Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral

In the Montenegrin city of Bar, Serbian Orthodox Archpriest Slobodan Zeković said that the UOC is facing persecution in Ukraine. He made the remarks on September 12 following the Liturgy in the crypt of the Cathedral of St. Jovan Vladimir marking the Translation of the Relics of St. Alexander Nevsky, UOJ-Serbia reports.

Fr. Slobodan described the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as a martyred Church, saying it is suffering both from the war and from pressure by the Ukrainian authorities.

“The UOC was the first to suffer from the war that has been raging there since 2014, and on top of that, the Church has endured years of persecution by Ukraine’s godless regime. Many churches have been seized and desecrated, and many priests and bishops are in prison or being prosecuted in the courts. May the Lord grant them patience, faith and strength to endure this brutal persecution, for we know that after every persecution, the Church has emerged even stronger, more powerful and more numerous. So it will be this time as well,” the priest said.

As the UOJ reported, a Serbian priest previously called the expulsion of the UOC from the Lavra “a disgrace.”

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