Patras, Greece, November 14, 2019
Photo: oukraniko.blogspot.com
Knowing that the local faithful were planning to protest and block their entry to St. Andrew’s Church in Patras, the pilgrims of the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” changed their schedule to visit the church without incident, but the faithful were already on-guard.
Thus, a conflict broke out between the faithful Orthodox believers of Patras and the clergy of the Church of St. Andrew when the schismatic pilgrims, including “Metrpolitans” Simeon Shostasky and Alexander Drabinko, who abandoned the Church of Christ to become schismatics, were allowed inside the church, reports the Greek outlet Oukraniko.
The schismatics also encountered trouble on the island of Aegina, not being allowed to enter the Holy Trinity-St. Nektarios and St. Minas Monasteries. They were warmly received, however, on Evia and in Fokidos.
The OCU pilgrims were initially scheduled to visit the church this morning but decided to visit yesterday after lunch, as it was publicly reported that there would be a protest to block them from entering the church on Thursday.
However, the OCU schismatics nevertheless “found the faithful of Patras who were on duty in case they [the schismatic pilgrims—Ed.] would appear outside their schedule,” as “there was a suspicion that they would change their program,” as they have been doing frequently during their trip.
“The inhabitants of Patras were in the church and found the schismatics, and [a certain] Mr. Zorbalas just happened to come in at the same time and saw that the rector of the church, Fr. Skiaradesis, was conducting a tour for the schismatics. They were near the honorable head of St. Andrew just then.”
Oukranki reports that “while the schismatics were shooting videos and taking photos to publish on the internet, a lively altercation began between Zorbalas and the rector, who was leading a tour for the schismatics. The conflict continued for quite a while, and, probably, the schismatics will have to shoot new videos.”
It was also reported yesterday that the faithful of Patras were to gather this morning at 6:00 for a protest at the Church of St. Andrew.
The faithful emphasized that “we say ‘no’ to the schismatics. We are on the side of our Orthodox brothers in Ukraine, who suffer because of them. The fight has begun! The schismatics will come again, as they did to the Holy Mountain.”
