Lithuanian Church Assembly requests greater Church independence, reaffirms stance on war

Vilnius, Lithuania, December 28, 2022

Photo: orthodoxy.lt Photo: orthodoxy.lt     

The hierarchs of the Lithuanian Orthodox Church gathered in a general Assembly with the clergy, monastics, and lay representatives from all parishes at the Holy Spirit Monastery in Vilnius yesterday.

Among the main topics discussed were the war in Ukraine and the canonical status of the Lithuanian Church.

The Assembly stated that “the Lithuanian Orthodox Church immediately condemned the war against Ukraine at all levels—the hierarchy, clergy and laity, and expressed its full support for the anti-war position of its primate, Metropolitan Innokenty of Vilnius and Lithuania,” reports the Church press service.

Further:

The Assembly also confirmed its loyalty to the course of gaining greater Church independence and adopted a corresponding appeal to the Holy Synod. Earlier, Metropolitan Innokenty addressed the Synod with a petition to grant the Lithuanian Orthodox Archdiocese the status of a self-governing Church.

The principled position of the Lithuanian Orthodox Church is that its Church status should be brought into line with the real state of things. As you know, the Lithuanian Orthodox Archdiocese is one of the traditional religious communities of Lithuania and is a morally and financially independent religious organization.

At the same time, the Lithuanian Orthodox Church attaches the utmost importance to the observance of Church canons. Through the canonical connection with the Moscow Patriarchate, the Lithuanian Orthodox Archdiocese is united with the entirety of the Orthodox Church. This connection is exclusively canonical and in no way hinders Church independence. Similarly, Roman Catholics in various countries maintain a canonical connection with the Roman See.

Despite the Lithuanian Church’s clear and consistent stance, it has had to continually defend itself against false statements and interference from state authorities, who have pledged to help establish the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Lithuania.

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!

12/28/2022

See also
Patriarch Bartholomew receives Lithuanian politicians seeking to subject Church to Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew receives Lithuanian politicians seeking to subject Church to Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew receives Lithuanian politicians seeking to subject Church to Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew receives Lithuanian politicians seeking to subject Church to Constantinople
The visit comes as defrocked clerics and government officials are working to force the Church in Lithuania out of the Moscow Patriarchate and into the jurisdiction of Pat. Bartholomew. Stop meddling in Church affairs—Lithuanian faithful and clergy appeal to president Stop meddling in Church affairs—Lithuanian faithful and clergy appeal to president Stop meddling in Church affairs—Lithuanian faithful and clergy appeal to president Stop meddling in Church affairs—Lithuanian faithful and clergy appeal to president
In their appeal, the laity express deep concern over the unjustified attacks on the Church in Lithuania as well as their full support for the position of His Eminence Metropolitan Innokenty of Vilnius against the war in Ukraine. Lithuania ready to help move the Church from Moscow to Constantinople, PM tells Patriarch Bartholomew Lithuania ready to help move the Church from Moscow to Constantinople, PM tells Patriarch Bartholomew Lithuania ready to help move the Church from Moscow to Constantinople, PM tells Patriarch Bartholomew Lithuania ready to help move the Church from Moscow to Constantinople, PM tells Patriarch Bartholomew
Lithuanian authorities support the appeal of some Orthodox priests to switch from the Moscow Patriarchate to Constantinople, and are prepared to help bring the Patriarchate of Constantinople into the country.
Comments
Carlos12/28/2022 7:50 pm
As a Catholic it bothers me that they use us as a bad example. The Roman/Latin Church, despite having a global presence, continues to be a church on the level of the Russian or Serbian Church; The Catholic Church for its part is made up of the Latin Church and the Uniate churches. The national churches are a Protestant invention. The Latin Church is in Colombia, the Congo or the Philippines is the same church; By extension, the Moscow Patriarchate is in Lithuania, Russia or Kyrgyzstan, it is still the same church. Enough of submitting to the guidelines of globalism.
Here you can leave your comment on the present article, not exceeding 4000 characters. All comments will be read by the editors of OrthoChristian.Com.
Enter through FaceBook
Your name:
Your e-mail:
Enter the digits, seen on picture:

Characters remaining: 4000

Subscribe
to our mailing list

* indicates required
×