The Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church ordered that special prayer petitions for the unity of the Orthodox world be performed daily in all churches and monasteries of the UOC during divine services, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The official website of the UOC reported this on Friday.
“In all churches and monasteries of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, prayers will be intensified for the preservation of the unity of holy Orthodoxy. With the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine, special prayer requests will be pronounced during each Divine Liturgy,” the message says.
Let us recall that currently the Ukrainian authorities, with the blessing of the US State Department, are pushing the idea of a so-called single local autocephalous church in Ukraine. The Patriarchate of Constantinople, “in preparation for the granting of autocephaly,” has already appointed its exarchs in Kyiv.
In addition, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople stated that he intends to grant autocephaly to Ukraine. The UOC called such actions an invasion of the canonical territory of another local church and called on Patriarch Bartholomew to stop his interference, and the “exarchs” of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to leave Kyiv.
The Russian Orthodox Church, in turn, agreed to an actual “severance of diplomatic relations” with the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Synod of the Russian Church announced the cessation of the commemoration of Patriarch Bartholomew during patriarchal services.