Melbourne, Australia, March 16, 2021
There have been a number of disturbing attacks on peaceful Orthodox laity in various countries lately. Such incidents have sadly become commonplace in Ukraine, where schismatic nationalists of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” routinely launch violent attacks to seize churches of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, but they also happen in other places.
Photo: greekcitytimes.com
Australia
Most recently, a 78-year-old woman was brutally attacked while opening her church in Melbourne, Australia, at about 6 AM on Saturday.
The woman, Penelope, is heavily involved at her church and arrives before the priest to open the church every Sunday and whenever there are services, reports Greek City Times.
She was opening the church as usual on Saturday, when a man and woman approached her and the man punched her in the face, pushed her to the ground, and kicked her. The elderly victim lay alone on the street for half an hour before she was found.
Penelope suffered a broken wrist, fractured pelvis, and bleeding on the brain in two areas. She is currently recovering in the hospital. “Everyone is completely shocked by this—it’s such a terrible act of cowardice,” commented parishioner Jane Pallot.
“She is a beautiful lady and church is her life, and we will make sure she is looked after,” she added.
In addition to her duties at the church, Penelope takes care of her husband full-time, as he suffers from dementia. However, she may not be able to care for him again because of the attack. “He’s very confused and upset about the whole thing. It’s really important for him to have stability and routine,” said Penelope’s daughter-in-law Erin Katsavos.
Meanwhile, Penelope remains in good spirits.
Archbishop Makarios of the Greek Orthodox Church of Australia noted that the Archdiocese will offer her whatever help she needs and urged the clergy and people to pray for her recovery and the softening of evil hearts. He also called upon the perpetrators to sincerely repent.
Greece
Photo: blogspot.com Last week, a group of protestors in Athens attacked a man who had an icon of the Theotokos and a hand cross.
A video that has circulated online shows a group of people forcefully knock the icon and cross out of the man’s hands and trample on the icon. After the man picks the icon up off the ground, another person tears it into pieces as others watch, chanting vulgar slogans.
According to the Orthodox Times, the attackers had gathered for a protest march in support of a member of a terrorist organization who was recently sentenced to life in prison for murdering 11 people.
The man was reportedly preaching and calling on people to repent, which he continued to do after the attack.
Ukraine
And in Ukraine, six supporters of the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” brutally beat a 63-year-old parishioner of St. Michael’s Church in the village of Zadubrovka in the Chernivtsi Province.
Photo: news.church.ua
Vasily Khaschiuk was attacked while returning home from praying and defending the church on March 13, and suffered a concussion and multiple bruises to his face and body, reports the Information-Education Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
He is currently hospitalized and will have to undergo long-term rehabilitation.
The parish community has been praying around the clock to protect its church from the schismatics for nearly two years now. Vasily is regularly on-duty, rector Fr. Vitaly Durov said, and he was returning home around midnight to get some sleep before work in the morning when he was brutally attacked by a group of teenagers.
The same group had previously tried to seize the church in May and boasted online about beating parishioners of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
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