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| Russian Orthodox Church broke communication with five hierarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church |
| 2024-05-31 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] During the meeting, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) decided to break off church communion with five hierarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (BOC), who participated in joint service with Ukrainian schismatics. The statement was published on May 30 on the Russian Orthodox Church website. At the meeting, they discussed the liturgy, which was held at the Valukli Monastery in Istanbul by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople together with representatives of one of the Ukrainian structures. Representatives of the BOC, Metropolitan Nicholas of Plovdiv, Metropolitan Cyprian of Starozagora, Metropolitan Jacob of Dorostol, Bishop Sioniy of Velich and Bishop Vissarion of Smolyan, also took part in it. “The meeting participants stated the impossibility of concelebrating with the mentioned hierarchs who entered into church communion with schismatics,” the statement says. Members of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church also noted with regret that Patriarch Bartholomew continues actions that lead to a deepening gap in Orthodoxy. In Kyiv in December 2018, a schismatic structure called the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” was established. In January 2019, Patriarch Bartholomew signed a tomos on the autocephaly of the OCU. In the same month, 47 parishes transferred to this structure. The schismatics, with the assistance of the Ukrainian authorities, began a gradual seizure of the churches of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The process intensified after the start of the SVO. Attacks on the priests of the UOC also began. On May 30, 2024, activists forced the Metropolitan of the Cherkasy diocese of the UOC Theodosius to walk along the Russian flag, on which was fixed a portrait of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill. On May 5, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Gennady Askaldovich said that the Kiev regime is ousting the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine for the sake of the ambitions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which wants to gain a large local church to strengthen its position in Eastern Europe. He also noted that the OCU, created on the basis of persecution, cannot be made a support for the state. Related: Russian Orthodox Church: 2024-05-19 Poland to Invest $2.5 Billion to Build Up Border Fortifications Russian Orthodox Church: 2024-05-18 Russian Orthodox Church: the demolition of the chapel of the Desyatinny Monastery in Kyiv repeated the acts of Batu Khan Russian Orthodox Church: 2024-05-06 The miraculous Kazan Icon to be transferred to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior |
| Posted by:badanov |