The Church of Moldova condemns Phanar’s actions in Ukraine and supports UOC
The Synod of the Orthodox Church of Moldova called on the international community to pay attention to persecution of the canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
The Orthodox Church of Moldova condemned the anti-canonical intervention of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the church life of Ukraine and expressed deep concern about the "current tragic situation of the persecution of the clergy and flock of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, headed by its Primate His Beatitude Onufriy, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine." This is said in a statement adopted at the meeting of the Synod on April 19, 2019, the official website of the Orthodox Church of Moldova reports.
“The episcopate of the Orthodox Church of Moldova deplores the anti-canonical intervention of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who granted the Tomos on autocephaly to the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”, artificially created by the merger of two schismatic structures, which in turn did nothing to restore unity and peace among the Ukrainian Christians, but on the contrary, only provoked even more serious consequences for the whole of Universal Orthodoxy,” the Synod said in the statement. .
The Holy Synod stressed that the methods of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, chosen by them for "resolving the church problem" in Ukraine, with the participation and support of the secular government, as well as hostile and discriminatory measures against the clergy and flock of the canonical UOC, are "alien to the centuries-long life and teachings of our Holy Orthodox Church”.
“Violation of the fundamental rights and freedoms of clergy and believers of the canonical Church by depriving the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of its name, and de facto legalizing the confiscation of its churches and historic monasteries with the support of security forces, contrary to the decisions of religious communities, who express their desire to stay in the fold of the canonical Church, clearly says about the main goal of the newly established church structure – to eliminate the canonical Orthodox Church in this territory,” the document says.
In the person of all the episcopate, clergy and flock, the Synod of the Orthodox Church of Moldova expressed prayer support to the believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church: “offering our prayers to the All-merciful God, so that He would strengthen them in suffering, giving everyone patience and steadfast confession of the holy Orthodox faith, according to the venerable Apostle Paul, who was repeatedly subjected to oppression for the sake of the Lord: ‘I implore you to act worthy of the title to which you are called, with all humble wisdom and gentleness and long-suffering, condescending to each other with love, trying to maintain the unity of the spirit in the union of peace’ (Eph. 4, 1-3)."
The Synod also called on the international community to “pay attention to the injustice occurring in Ukraine, as a result of which basic human rights are violated, as well as to the cruel and abusive interference of the state power of Ukraine in the life and church-administrative organization of the local Orthodox Church.”
As the UOJ reported, on April 18, 2019, Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria, Patriarch John X of Antioch, Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and Archbishop Chrysostom II of Cyprus called for the protection of Ukrainian believers and their churches from "any violent acts".
