In the canonical UOC, Bartholomew’s envoys were called “thieves and bandits”
Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol, one of two Ukrainian hierarchs who serve on the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, gave an interview to the BBC regarding the activities of the exarchs Bartholomew sent by the Phanar to Ukraine, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“These two traveling salesmen burst into the territory of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry. These are thieves, bandits. Nobody called them. They didn’t inform the blessed one, they burst in: “Hello, we’re here!” he said.
Metropolitan Luke also refuted Petro Poroshenko’s statements that supposedly in the churches of the UOC they pray for “the Russian army that is killing Ukrainians.”
“At services we pray for the authorities and military of Ukraine. I know one thing clearly: I pray for my homeland, Ukraine. This situation reminds me of 37, when they began to outlaw someone, made them dissidents, and the like. This hurts me very much,” the Metropolitan noted.
According to the Metropolitan, the decisions of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on the break with Constantinople will make it easier for ordinary believers to understand the situation.
“Grandmother, of course, will not go to Constantinople; she will not serve with anyone there. But it is important that the grandmother will know that a legal and canonical assessment has been given to those actions that on her land, in Zaporozhye, can lead to irreparable consequences. She will know that her church protects her, because her church follows the laws and canons. If you turn to God and perform some rituals, then it is important where you do it. If you decide to do something, please do it right. You don’t go to the pharmacy to buy sausage,” he said.
The canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church called Bartholomew's envoys "thieves and bandits."