Berdyansk activists reminded Metropolitan Onufriy his sit-in at Parliament

Official visit of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) Metropolitan Onufriy (Berezovskiy) to Berdyansk diocese, made on 16-17 May, was somewhat overshadowed by local patriots arrival to the Metropolitan’s way to the Cathedral of the Nativity, where he had to celebrate worship. The protesters were holding in their hands posters with inscriptions: “UOC MP is enemy Church,” “The blood of the killed ATO soldiers is on hands of every priest of the Moscow Patriarchate,” “Get out of Ukraine!” Faithful who came to meet their Primate stood nearby.

“The activists were protesting against the position of the Moscow Patriarchate clergymen,” said one of the protesters Alex Sukhomlinov, especially the patriots were angry that representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate did not stand up in memory of soldiers who died in the ATO.”

According to Pro berdyansk.biz website, the parishioners Church of the Nativity, mostly women of elderly age, by contrast defended the Metropolitan and disagreed with the views of the protesters.

According to the official site of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), Metropolitan Onufriy (Berezovskiy) paid a visit to the Diocese of Berdyansk, where he headed the Divine Liturgy with the rite of glorification of the Icon of Our Lady of Three Hands of Berdyansk. The city of Berdyansk that the hierarch visited was called “front-line” in the news and the incident with protestors was not mentioned.