Patriarch of Jerusalem condemns prison sentence against Ukrainian metropolitan

Jerusalem, August 29, 2023

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The guilty verdict and prison sentence leveled against His Eminence Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchinsk of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church is condemnable and amounts to persecution, says the Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Earlier this month, Met. Jonathan was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and the confiscation of property on fabricated charges of “inciting religious enmity” and “justifying Russian aggression.”

While a number of hierarchs are facing the same persecution from the state, Met. Jonathan is the first to receive a prison sentence. His Eminence even had to undergo open-heart surgery last November, in the midst of the state persecution against him.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia wrote to the Orthodox primates about the issue, noting that a five-year prison sentence for an elderly, seriously ill hierarch is essentially a death sentence.

In his response, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem writes that he read the Russian primate’s letter “with great sorrow” and that “we strongly condemn this verdict,” reports the Russian Church’s Department for External Church Relations.

Pat. Theophilos wrote:

Continuing to offer prayers and supplications to the All-powerful Holy God, we fervently pray before the All-Holy and Life-Bearing Tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that the Grace of the Most Holy Spirit may strengthen His Eminence Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchin and Bratslav and all the persecuted, enlighten the persecutors to repentance, and grant the cessation of all hostile actions.

His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Church also appealed to his brother primates on behalf of the persecuted Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its hierarchs last month. Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria caused a scandal when he wrote a response focusing on his own troubles.

The Serbian Orthodox Church recently published a reflection on the Alexandrian primate’s response entitled, “What About Me?”

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8/29/2023

See also
Metropolitan and clergy of Montenegro in defense of Kiev Caves Lavra Metropolitan and clergy of Montenegro in defense of Kiev Caves Lavra Metropolitan and clergy of Montenegro in defense of Kiev Caves Lavra Metropolitan and clergy of Montenegro in defense of Kiev Caves Lavra
Met. Joanikije also emphasized how even the non-Orthodox international community is outraged at what is happening: “For people living in the 21st century, it seems incredible that someone’s going to evict hundreds of monks from the monastery out onto the street.” The attack on the UOC and Lavra is an attack on the whole Church—Bulgarian bishop and monastics The attack on the UOC and Lavra is an attack on the whole Church—Bulgarian bishop and monastics The attack on the UOC and Lavra is an attack on the whole Church—Bulgarian bishop and monastics The attack on the UOC and Lavra is an attack on the whole Church—Bulgarian bishop and monastics
As the persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the brotherhood of the Kiev Caves Lavra continues to intensify, hierarchs, clergy, and international organizations from around the world have begun speaking out in defense of the Church. Ukrainian Hierarchs On the State Expelling Holy Orthodoxy from the Kiev Caves Lavra Ukrainian Hierarchs On the State Expelling Holy Orthodoxy from the Kiev Caves Lavra Ukrainian Hierarchs On the State Expelling Holy Orthodoxy from the Kiev Caves Lavra Ukrainian Hierarchs On the State Expelling Holy Orthodoxy from the Kiev Caves Lavra
A number of hierarchs have made statements on the situation, emphasizing that the Church built, has prayed in, and rebuilt the Lavra, and that the state has no legal grounds to expel the monatics.

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