The visit of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to Ukraine in August may cause a "new wave of seizures of Churches" of the UOC-MP, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), head of the DECR of the Moscow Patriarchate, believes. The "seizure of churches" in the Moscow Patriarchate also includes voluntary transitions of communities of the UOC-MP to the OCU.
Patriarch Bartholomew will pay an official visit to Ukraine on Independence Day on August 24.
"Ukrainian archpastors and clergy, many political scientists and experts express concerns that due to the arrival of the patriarch of Constantinople, conflicts will only worsen. Radical political forces in Ukraine will need to show the Phanar the "unification of orthodoxy "in Ukraine - and this may cause a new wave of seizures of churches. In recent months, the level of violence has been growing again," Metropolitan Hilarion said in an interview with RIA Novosti on March 23. This is reported by Credo.press.
Hilarion emphasized that Patriarch Bartholomew was invited not to the festive church celebration on July 28 - the day of the Baptism of Russia, but to state celebrations at the end of August.
"On the day of the Baptism of Rus, the canonical Church traditionally holds a religious procession in Kyiv, which unites hundreds of thousands of believers," the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church MP emphasized.