Met Clement on BOC bishops concelebration with OCU: Awaiting BOC's response
Metropolitan Clement believes that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has not changed its stance regarding the OCU.
The head of the Synodal Information and Education Department of the UOC, Metropolitan Clement of Nizhyn and Pryluky, stated that the Synod of the BOC should comment on the fact of the service of bishops of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church with representatives of the OCU. Bishop Clement's commentary was posted by the Telegram channel Youth Association "ODIHITRIA".
"The official website of the Bulgarian Patriarchate did not even report on the fact of the Liturgy led by Patriarch Bartholomew, let alone the participation of representatives of the OCU. Therefore, there are currently no changes in the position of Bulgarian Orthodoxy regarding the OCU. And those bishops seen in the photos of the Liturgy with representatives of the OCU may want to become patriarch, but they are not delegated to represent the position of the Bulgarian Church because there is a Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, whose authority is still valid," said the UOC hierarch.
As the UOJ reported, on May 19, 2024, a liturgy took place in the Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of the Lifegiving Spring, located in the Balıklı quarter of Istanbul, attended by the "hierarchs" of the OCU alongside hierarchs from the Phanar and the Bulgarian Church.