Delegation of Balta Eparchy meets with Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem
Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem and Metropolitan Alexy of Balta and Ananievsk. Photo: Balta Eparchy of the UOC
On October 30, 2019, as part of a trip to the Holy Land, the delegation of the Balta eparchy of the UOC, led by Metropolitan Alexy of Balta and Ananyevsk (Grokha), met with His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine. It is reported by the diocesan press service.
Welcoming the Ukrainian delegation, Patriarch Theophilos emphasized that the Jerusalem Church prays for the Ukrainian state and lovingly receives all the pilgrims of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, led by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine.
In turn, Metropolitan Alexy gifted a copy of the miraculous Kasperovskaya Icon of the Mother of God to the Primate of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church.
As reported by the UOJ, on September 27, 2019, on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy and Life-giving Cross of the Lord, the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church concelebrated with His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos at the Divine Liturgy in the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
On October 18, with the blessing of Patriarch Theophilos, the vicar of Gorlovka Eparchy of the UOC, Bishop Spiridon of Dobropolye, served Archbishop Theophylactus of Jordan in the church of the Nativity of Christ in the city of Bethlehem.
Additionally, in October, the great pilgrimage of 22 groups of clergy and laity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to the Holy Land ended, during which the Patriarch of Jerusalem hosted the staff of the UOC Pilgrimage Center and wished them success in further travel arrangements.
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