Paris, March 4, 2020
Photo: Facebook
A great spiritual event occurred in Paris on Sunday, as a former “hieromonk” of the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” who repented and united himself to the canonical Orthodox Church was canonically ordained to serve at the holy altar.
The ordination of Hieromonk Hieorotheos was celebrated by His Eminence Metropolitan John of Dubna of the Archdiocese of Russian Churches of Western Europe at St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on Forgiveness Sunday, March 1, reports Archevêché Russe en Europe Occidentale Patriarcat de Moscou.
Fr. Hierotheos was formerly of the Kharkiv Diocese of the schismatic OCU.
Photo: Facebook
The message notes that this is the second “priest” from the OCU that Met. John has canonically ordained.
The Archdiocese under Met. John was part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople when it accepted the schismatics of the “Kiev Patriarchate” and the “Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church” in their existing ranks, without ordaining them, although they had never been canonically ordained.
However, following a series of missteps from Constantinople, including suddenly and without warning revoking the Archdiocese’s status as an exarchate and suddenly and without warning releasing Met. (then Abp.) John from the Patriarchate, the hierarch led the majority of the parishes and clergy to reunite with the Moscow Patriarchate, which does not recognize the clergy of the OCU.
