Metropolitan Anthony, Chancellor of the UOC-MP, met with Patriarch John X of Antioch and all the East on June 16, 2021.
This is reported by the Information and Educational Department of the UOC-MP.
The meeting took place at the patriarchal residence in Damascus (Syria). Metropolitan Anthony was accompanied by Archpriest Mykolai Danilevich, deputy head of the UOC Department for External Church Relations. The meeting was also attended by bishops of the Church of Antioch: Bishop Moses of Darai, Bishop John of Sergiupol, Bishop Ephraim of Seleucia, as well as employees of the Patriarchate.
Metropolitan Anthony thanked Patriarch John for his blessing to visit the Church of great Antioch, where the disciples of Christ were first called Christians (acts. 11: 26), and also conveyed greetings to Metropolitan Onufriy.
The hierarch said that he arrived at the Church of Antioch to transfer the last part of donations that were collected by the dioceses of the UOC-MP in accordance with the decision of the Holy Synod of 17.08.2020 for the restoration of Churches of the Beirut Metropolitanate, which were damaged as a result of the explosion in the port of the Lebanese capital on August 4, 2020.
Patriarch John asked Bishop Anthony to convey warm words of gratitude to the UOC-MP for the financial assistance collected. According to the Patriarch, the Church of Antioch is touched by the empathy and effective help that they felt from the Orthodox Ukrainian people. This became an expression of Brotherly Love and a manifestation of the unity of brothers in Christ.
During the meeting, they also discussed the situation in the world and Ukrainian orthodoxy. Ways to develop cooperation between the UOC-MP and the Orthodox Church of Antioch were discussed.