OCU invites Romanian-speaking UOC parishes to join its autonomous vicariate
The head of the Chernivtsi Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church assures that no one will be forced to pray in Ukrainian.
Feognost Borodiak, the head of the Chernivtsi Diocese of the OCU, called on Romanian-speaking parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to join the so-called Romanian Autonomous Vicariate of the OCU. He made this statement during a press conference in his address to Orthodox Christians in the Chernivtsi region, residing in Romanian-speaking communities in Bukovyna, as reported by "Molodyi Bukovynets".
"In the first year of institutional formation, the Orthodox Romanian Vicariate was created under the authority of the head of the OCU. Therefore, I call upon our brethren, especially in Bukovyna, where the largest Romanian-speaking population resides, to unite around the OCU, around the Kyiv Metropolitan throne headed by His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy," the statement reads.
According to him, religious communities that are willing to join the Romanian vicariate will be given the right to adhere to Romanian Orthodox liturgical, linguistic, and calendar traditions by their own choice.
"No one will be forced to conduct services in Ukrainian," promises Feognost Borodiak.
As reported by the UOJ, the Synod of the Romanian Church blessed Romanian Orthodox communities in Ukraine to transition under the jurisdiction of the Romanian Patriarchate. The Synod of the OCU sent appeals to the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew and to the Romanian Patriarch Daniel regarding the creation of the "Romanian Orthodox Church of Ukraine", stating that only the OCU can have canonical jurisdiction in the territory of Ukraine and no one else.
