Vilnius, Lithuania, May 2, 2023
Photo: orthodoxy.lt
On Saturday, April 29, the Lithuanian Orthodox Church held its second procession for Church unity.
Thousands participated in the prayer march, timed to the feast of the Holy Martyrs Anthony, John, and Eustathius of Vilnius, reports the Lithuanian Orthodox Church.
The procession comes against the background of the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s active interference in Church life in Lithuania. In March, Patriarch Bartholomew officially received a handful of defrocked Lithuanian clerics and signed an agreement with the Lithuanian state to create a parallel Church structure there.
Photo: orthodoxy.lt
The Church held the first such procession last year when it was already known that the given clerics were attempting to join Constantinople and had been suspended for their schismatic activity.
This year’s procession started from the Holy Dormition Cathedral and headed to the Holy Spirit Monastery, and was attended by all clergy of the Lithuanian Archdiocese and thousands of parishioners. At the monastery, His Eminence Metropolitan Innokenty of Vilnius celebrated the Divine Liturgy for the feast of the Vilnius Martyrs.
Photo: orthodoxy.lt
Before the start of the Liturgy, the Holy Fire from Jerusalem arrived at the monastery.
During the festive Divine service, prayers were offered for the unity of the Church and the end of the war in Ukraine.
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