Ukrainian Orthodox primate denounces Russian invasion
March 17, 2025
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CWN Editor's Note: On the third anniversary of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine, the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), historically affiliated with the Patriarchate of Moscow, issued a statement denouncing the invasion.
Metropolitan Onufriy of Kiev said that “our Motherland has been suffering from the horrible bloodshed that the Russian army... has brought to our Ukrainian land.” He added: “Nothing can be an excuse for those who break the blessed peace.”
The UOC—the ecclesiastical rival of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which has no canonical ties with Moscow—has been subject to legal restrictions by the Ukrainian government, which has charged that UOC clerics have undermined the national effort. Metropolitan Onufriy lamented the “slander, speculation, and artificial accusations” directed against the UOC, and offered prayers “for all the Ukrainian servicemen, who carry on their self-sacrificing feat every day, courageously defending Ukraine and her residents.”
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