Odessa clergy also declare their support for the canonical status of the Ukrainian Church
Odessa, October 24, 2018
Photo: eparhiya.od.ua The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has built a new church in honor of the great Georgian right-believing ruler St. Tamara in Odessa, to serve the Georgian population living there.
Photo: eparhiya.od.ua His Eminence Metropolitan Agafangel of Odessa, concelebrated by his vicar His Grace Bishop Diodorus, and a number of clergy led a prayer service in the new church yesterday and blessed the church’s bells, a cross for on top the dome, and laid a capsule in the foundation of the church, reports the site of the Diocese of Odessa of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The church was built with the blessing of His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II, and prayers were lifted up for the primates of both the Georgian and Ukrainian Churches during the service.
Photo: eparhiya.od.ua In his homily on the occasion, Met. Agafangel congratulated all present and stressed that the grace of the Holy Spirit was called down upon the new church, where regular services will soon begin, to be celebrated by a priest sent from Georgia, along with a priest from the Odessa Diocese, thus demonstrating the fraternal relations between the Georgian and Ukrainian Churches and people, bound by a single faith.
Photo: eparhiya.od.ua “I have been to Georgia several times, I am personally acquainted with His Holiness Patriarch-Catholicos Ilia II, who has also been to Odessa. I am glad for all Georgians that he is a spiritual leader whose opinion everyone heeds,” Met. Agafangel continued.
Photo: eparhiya.od.ua There are also plans to open a spiritual and educational center at the church for the Georgian diaspora and all who are interested in Georgian culture and life.
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In other Odessa news, a clergy meeting was recently held at which the participants were asked to answer in a secret ballot if they support the preservation of the present status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as an autonomous Church and the position of its primate, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine.
According to RIA-Novosti, 406 clergy answered “yes,” 3 answered “no,” and 4 abstained, submitting blank ballots. Thus, 98.3% of the clergy of the Odessa Diocese support their canonical position as an autonomous Church.
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