Cherkasy, Cherkasy Province, Ukraine, February 28, 2024
Photo: pravlife.org
Another hierarch of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church is suffering from deteriorating health under the pressure of the state’s campaign of persecution.
“Due to the deterioration of his health caused by a hypertensive crisis, Metropolitan Theodosy of Cherkasy and Kanev was urgently hospitalized for inpatient treatment at the insistence of doctors,” the Diocese of Cherkasy reported on Tuesday, February 27.
His Eminence Metropolitan Longin of Bancheny has also suffered repeated severe health problems since the state began its persecution against him, as has His Eminence Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod, the abbot of the Kiev Caves Lavra, and His Eminence Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchin.
Met. Theodosy initially suffered a hypertensive attack and attack of angina pectoris and had to receive treatment in the hospital on February 22, the day the Ukrainian Security Service decided to conduct another search of his home and to inform him of yet another investigation against him. There are now four separate charges being pursued against him, for supposedly inciting religious enmity and supporting Russia.
The canonical hierarch spent eight months last year in round-the-clock house arrest, and is still under nighttime house arrest.
The Metropolitan is one of the most vocal UOC hierarchs in terms of fighting for the Church’s and its faithful’s human rights. He has addressed the UN’s Human Rights Council, and is among the founding members of the Church Against Xenophobia and Religious Discrimination human rights group.
The latest search of his home came just a day after he had an extensive meeting with the director of British Parliamentary Committee for International Religious Freedom, informing her about the widespread persecution of the Church, and with Robert Amsterdam, the D.C.-based lawyer who is representing the persecuted Church pro bono.
Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!
