Balamand, Lebanon, April 26, 2023
Photo: Antiochian Patriarchate
The Holy Synod of the Antiochian Patriarchate is raising its voice about the persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The bishops met yesterday in Balamand under the chairmanship of His Beatitude Patriarch John. Concerning the situation in Ukraine, the hierarchs stated:
The Fathers of the Synod raised their prayers for the entire Orthodox world, asking the Risen Lord to protect His Church from divisions. They expressed their solidarity with the brothers in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who are suffering from the ravages of war and the injustice of religious persecution. They appealed to the leaders of this world to pay attention to the discrimination suffered by the members of this Church and its leaders, the violation of their human rights and the violation of their religious freedoms, which has reached the point of expelling them from the Lavra in Kiev, which they rebuilt from the destruction suffered in the past.
Last month, Pat. John sent a letter to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, assuring him that “we are near to you in spirit, and we extend our hand to you at this dark hour.”
His Eminence Metropolitan Isaak of Germany and Central Europe of the Antiochian Patriarchate also issued a statement on March 23 emphasizing the importance of the Kiev Caves Lavra and the Church’s central role in rebuilding it after communism.
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