Kiev, August 24, 2021
spzh.news
While Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople arrived in Ukraine on Friday to participate in the celebration of the 30th anniversary and Ukrainian independence and concelebrate with the unordained schismatics of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” the true Orthodox faithful in Ukraine have been prayerfully protesting his presence in a land where he has sowed so much division.
OrthoChristian earlier reported on the social media flash mob that spread from the Zaporozhye Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the run-up to the Patriarch’s visit, with Orthodox clergy and faithful proclaiming: “Bartholomew, we didn’t invite you!” The faithful thus responded to the propaganda that the entire Ukrainian nation was eagerly awaiting the visit of the Patriarch.
And on Friday, thousands of faithful gathered near the airport and lined the highway along which the Patriarch traveled from the airport to the Presidential Palace, holding placards, again letting him know that after he invaded their canonical territory and created a fake church that routinely carries out violence against the Church, he was not particularly welcome. The Union of Orthodox Journalists reports that the police were confiscating placards criticizing the Patriarch and calling him to a meeting with the faithful.
Local media noted that the Patriarch neglected to stop and speak with the thousands of faithful who had gathered.
The next day, thousands of Ukrainian Orthodox faithful held a prayer rally outside the Ukrainian Parliament building, hoping to speak with Pat. Bartholomew on his way to visit the Parliamentary Speaker Dmitry Razumkov and tell him to his face the truth of what he has wrought in Ukraine.
A “tomos” of the laity of the Ukrainian Church was composed in hopes of handing it to Pat. Bartholomew, imploring him to renounce his anti-canonical and heretical actions.
Many of those present were holding signs with images of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, the greatly beloved primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox flock. Signs with messages to the Patriarch were again confiscated.
In the afternoon, His Grace Bishop Nikolai of Vasilkov addressed the crowd, emphasizing that the Orthodox have the right to question the Patriarch and his harmful actions and the blind eye he turns to the suffering he has sown in Ukraine.
After the moleben the people began to sing the Paschal troparion.
The Patriarch again neglected to come out and meet the Orthodox faithful who had gathered.
Another prayer rally also began on Friday night outside the residence where Pat. Bartholomew is staying while in Ukraine.
The rally there has continued for several days, and yesterday morning, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry came out to bless the hundreds who had gathered. The people declared: “Our primate is Metropolitan Onuphry!”
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