Primate of the OCU held a meeting with the Polish RCC delegation
The delegation of the Polish episcopate included: Archbishop Stanislaw Gondecki, Chairman of the Polish Episcopal Conference, Metropolitan of Poznan; Archbishop Wojciech Polyak, Metropolitan of Gniezen, Primate of Poland and Archbishop Stanislaw Budzik, Metropolitan of Lublin, accompanied by priest Stepan Batrukh, rector of the UGCC in Lublin (Poland).
According to the official website of the OCU, the meeting was also attended by Archbishop Yevstratiy of Chernihiv and Nizhyn, deputy head of the Department for External Church Relations of the OCU.
The parties discussed the ongoing unprovoked Russian aggression against Ukraine, during which the enemy cynically kills civilians and destroys entire cities.
The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine thanked the guests for the extremely important assistance, in particular, the military assistance that the Republic of Poland provides to our country.
"War is a great evil that we suffered as a result of the insidious Russian attack. But the Lord has not forsaken us, and we have many friends who have given us a shoulder of help. Therefore, on behalf of our church, I would like to thank Poland for its support, which is very significant for us in this difficult time of trials. Russian atrocities in our cities and villages show that the only real goal of the enemy is the extermination of the Ukrainian people and our identity. Together, this evil must be stopped so that it does not spread further. Pray for Ukraine and continue fraternal assistance to our people, generations of Ukrainians will always remember this with gratitude," Metropolitan Epifaniy said in particular.
They also discussed the religious, interfaith and socio-political situation in our country and the Ukrainian refugees that Poland has kindly sheltered on its territory.
Speaking about the process of joining the parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate to the local Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude once again stressed that the principled position is the peaceful and voluntary expression of the will of the community to exercise its legal right to change jurisdiction.
In this context, he pointed out the absence of religious persecution in Ukraine, since for almost 3 months of a full-scale Russian invasion, none of the representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate suffered for their affiliation, and Ukrainian communities patiently and tolerantly adhere to the appropriate legal transition procedure.
Before the visit to the Primate of the OCU, the guests visited St Sophia Cathedral, and after the meeting – St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral.
