Translated by Ollie Richardson & Angelina Siard
21:55:29
25/05/2018
spzh.news
Journalists of the “Strana” website reported that the authorities are putting pressure on priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
It is “strongly recommend” to clergymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to sign a letter to the Constantinople Patriarchy with a request for Tomos of Autocephaly, reports “Strana”.
The source in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church told journalists that representatives of local government and law enforcement bodies address priors of temples, agitating for the creation of a United Local Church. The authorities ask that priests also conduct similar explanatory work among their congregation. In exchange they promise “a kind position” in the future. The source also reported that the authorities hint to those who resist that they won’t be able to find “sufficient arguments in defence of temples” when radicals start capturing them.
“As a deeply believing Christian and a patriot of our Motherland, I consider it to be necessary to support this initiative for the development of a United Local Orthodox Church as the foundation of a strong Christian state,” it is said in the document that the editorial office of “Strana” obtained. “In difficult conditions of almost wartime, the unification of Ukrainian Orthodoxy is a vital requirement. We must be consolidated and overcome the split in the church. Let all who wish well for the Orthodox Church and Ukraine, with a prayer on their lips, make efforts for the achievement of church unity, being guided by the precepts of church canons”.
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