Odessa gave Poroshenko a loud slap in the face
Odessa priests overwhelmingly supported unity with the Russian Church, according to the Odessa Diocese website, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
A meeting of the clergy of the Odessa diocese took place the day before on the initiative of Metropolitan Agafangel of Odessa and Izmail.
“A secret vote was held. All those present were asked to answer the question: “Do you support the preservation of the existing status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the position of its primate, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kyiv and All Ukraine?” To this question, out of 413 clergy of the Odessa diocese who were present at the meeting, 406 answered “Yes,” 3 clergy answered “No,” and 4 abstained,” the message says.
This result of the priests’ vote speaks of unconditional support for unity with the Moscow Patriarchate, says former secretary of the Odessa diocese, Archpriest Andrei Novikov.
“So, as there was no doubt about it, Metropolitan Agathangel of Odessa and the clergy of the Odessa diocese supported the unity of the Russian Church... A biting slap in the face to the distraught Phanar, a firm response to the persecutors - the Ukrainian authorities, a sobering up for the internal church alarmists,” he wrote in his blog.
Novikov clarifies that he was not surprised by the presence in the Odessa diocese of several priests who supported the position of Petro Poroshenko.
“They have always been there, and I can guess two of them with a high degree of probability,” comments the archpriest.
Odessa gave Poroshenko a resounding slap in the face.