Primate of Ukrainian Orthodox Church Met with Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem
The Visit of Ukrainian Orthodox Church Primate to the Holy Land
By tradition, in the course of the pilgrimage to the Holy Land His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr and the pilgrims from Ukraine were received by His Most Godly Beatitude the Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine Theophilus III at his personal residence. Accompanying the Primate of the UOC were the Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Ighor Timofeyev and head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem archimandrite Isidor.
During the meeting His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus greeted the pilgrims from Ukraine and thanked them for their regular visits to the Holy Land. His beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr and His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus exchanged greetings and keepsake gifts.
His Beatitude also performed the Following Activities in the Holy Land
Night Divine Liturgy at Holy Sepulcher
In the night of September 18-19 His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Church of Resurrection of Christ in the Edicule of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Concelebrating to the Primate were: the representative of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem Metropolitan Ambrose of Naples, Archbishop Pavel of Vyshgorod, Bishop Alexander of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi, Bishop Panteleimon of Vasylkiv, head of the Russian Ecclesiastic Mission archimandrite Isidor, clergy of the Churches of Ukraine and Jerusalem. Praying and receiving the Holy Communion at the Divine Liturgy were several hundreds of pilgrims from Ukraine.
His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr bowed unto the holy sites gathered under the arches of the Church of Resurrection of Christ: the Holy Sepulcher and the place of Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Golgotha – the place of crucifixion of the Savior, the Stone of Anointing – the place, where the body of Christ was laid after the deposition from the Cross, the place of invention of the Life-creating Cross of Our Lord etc.
Divine Liturgy at Judgment Gate of Jerusalem
On September 18 the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church visited the Russian St. Alexander Metochion in Jerusalem. It is here where the Judgment Gate is situated, through which the Savior was led to Golgotha. His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr and the pilgrims from Ukraine bowed unto the threshold of the Judgment Gates and the large stone from Golgotha, kept in the metochion.
In the Church of St. Alexander Metochion the Primate of the UOC celebrated the Divine Liturgy in concelebration of Deputy Abbot of the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Archbishop Pavel of Vyshgorod, Bishop Alexander of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi, Bishop Panteleimon of Vasylkiv, head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem archimandrite Isidor, the mission clergy and clergy pilgrims from Ukraine.
Reference:
The Orthodox Church of Jerusalem is the most ancient Orthodox Church of the world, the mother of all Churches. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem occupies 4th place in the diptych of Autocephalous Local Churches. Its jurisdiction today embraces the territory of Israel, Jordan and Palestine. The Patriarchate has an autonomous part – the Church of Sinai with St. Catherine’s Monastery on Sinai in Egypt.
The full title of the Church’s Primate is His Most Godly Beatitude the Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine, Syria, Arabia, beyond the Jordan River, Cana of Galilee, and Holy Zion, Theophilus III.
