“We cherish prayerful communion with our brethren in the Greek Orthodox Church and will maintain a living prayerful, canonical and Eucharistic connection with it—through all those archpastors and pastors who have already spoken out or will further oppose the recognition of the Ukrainian schism.”
Although the rule of the Church is entrusted to its hierarchs, the laity are just as much a part of the Church, the Body of Christ, as are the priest, bishops, and patriarchs—and their opinions also matter.
Sophia Iliadi
It is believed that the recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine by the Greek Church will become a catalyst for recognition by other Greek Patriarchates and Churches. But this is not obvious.
On September 22, three Greek priests concelebrated with His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine. After the Divine service, they congratulated the primate of the UOC and conveyed to him the disquiet of the Orthodox clergy and laity of Greece about the crisis within Orthodoxy in connection with events in Ukraine.
Archpriest Nectarios Trevino
The deceivers operate with human impunity, unafraid of God, because they possess pride and confidence in their intellect and positions of power to manipulate man.