Bishop Victor: Every believer should have an active church position

Bishop Victor (Kotsaba). Photo: facebook.com/V.D.Kotsaba

Every believer should have an active church position. The vicar of the Kyiv Metropolis, Bishop Victor (Kotsaba) of Baryshevka, said this in a sermon on the feast of the 12 apostles in the Alexander Nevsky stauropegic convent of the UOC in the village of Gorodno, Volyn region. The video of the sermon was published on the hierarch's Fb page.

“Every person is called to have an active church position,” said Bishop Victor. “And we know that in different periods of our Church, believers united in order to protect and preserve the purity of faith. We remember that on the border of the XVI-XVII centuries, Orthodox brotherhoods were organized on our lands, which defended the purity of our faith and passed it on to future generations."

He reminded that similar times have been recorded in our history has recorded, and today believers are also uniting in defense of their Church, which is going through difficult times.

“Today we know that in this difficult time, when our Church is facing trials, people unite to make our voice stronger and testify that we are many. We believe in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, we preserve the apostolic succession, we join the apostolic ministry and try to be faithful children of the Church of Christ, so that the Logos reaches all corners of our earth.

This responsibility and awareness of our participation in church life should permeate us, Orthodox Christians, because this is our vocation. We cannot just watch and stand aside, we must be active in manifesting our faith, our hope and our belief in the mercy of God because Christ and His Holy Church teach us this way,” Bishop Victor of Baryshevka emphasized.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that a large-scale project "Miriane" has appeared in Ukraine, which calls on the believers of the UOC to stop being a silent and invisible majority and take an active position – for the faith, traditional values and the Church. More and more active Orthodox Ukrainians, who are concerned about the fate of their Church and the future of their country, are joining the “Miriane” organization.

Read also

Synod of Ukrainian Orthodox Church сanonizes Blessed John Pokhodenchyk

In July of this year, the Commission on the Canonization of Saints reviewed materials regarding the glorification of the ascetic from the Kirovohrad region.

November 2 – International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists

Over six months ago, UOJ Orthodox journalists were arrested and placed in detention, facing life sentences for covering the religious situation in Ukraine.

Met. Longin’s lawyer: Judges wanted to ban video recording of the trial

After the judge decided to conduct the session 'in camera', Metropolitan Longin suffered a heart attack.  

Odesa UOC Eparchy: "We can no longer be silent; we will defend the Church"

The press service of the Odesa Eparchy commented on the statement regarding the ROC's actions toward dioceses in occupied territories.

OCU cathedral in Lutsk decorated with frescoes of businessmen

Due to criticism of this initiative, the images had to be redone.

Yelensky on UOC bishops’ statement: We expect an exit from the ROC, not talks

The DESS head suggested that the Primate did not support this statement, as he hadn't put his signature on it.