JERUSALEM PATRIARCH CALLS ALL TO UNITY, CONDEMNS SCHISM IN UKRAINE

Photo: rusdm.ru

Pravoslavie.ru – 8/6/17

Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem spoke on Pentecost Sunday at the patronal feast of the main church of the Moscow Patriarch in the Holy Land, the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Jerusalem, reports the press service of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission (Moscow Patriarchate) in Jerusalem.

Condemning the continual attempts by the schismatic and non-canonical “Kiev Patriarchate” to take over the churches of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the Ukraine, His Beatitude said, “The unity of the Church is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and we are called to preserve and strengthen it. The destruction of this unity is a serious crime.”

“We condemn in the most categorical terms those who are committing actions directed against the parishes of the canonical Orthodox Church in the Ukraine. Not in vain do the holy fathers remind us that the violation of the Church’s unity is the gravest sin.

“May the Holy Spirit, which descended upon Christ’s disciples on this day, enlighten our minds and hearts, and grant us the strength to preserve this precious gift of Church unity, entrusted to us by God’s Providence.

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