The Head of the OCU, Metropolitan Epifaniy, sent a letter to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on behalf of the Synod regarding the spiritual care of Orthodox believers abroad.
In his address, he said that millions of Ukrainians who were forced to leave for other countries because of the war need spiritual care and satisfaction of their church needs in a language that they understand and in the church tradition that is familiar to them.
The Synod briefed Patriarch Bartholomew on the problems faced by OCU believers in other countries. In particular, the Synod pointed out the hostile attitude of the Moscow Patriarchate and its like-minded local churches towards the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which is manifested, in particular, in the refusal to recognize the clergy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
The Synod of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine appeals to Bartholomew with a request to resolve the issue of spiritual care for Orthodox believers from Ukraine who temporarily live outside our state as a result of the war.
The OCU asks for assistance in organizing the church life of Ukrainian believers using the native language of worship and the usual order of its performance, as well as in observing other pious Ukrainian church customs. “To do this, we ask you to receive clergymen of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine on a temporary business trip, who would take care of such believers,” the Synod of the OCU notes.
The Synod informs the Ecumenical Patriarch about the facts of uncanonical attitude on the part of the hierarchs of individual local churches, who do not recognize the merits of the clergy of the OCU. This points towards the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Poland.
"For the good of the Orthodox faithful in such cases, we are forced by the force of circumstances to take more care of them than of anything else so that our faithful maintain unity with the Orthodox Church, have the opportunity to worship and participate in the sacraments. However, we hope that over time this attitude will change and all local churches will follow the Tomos of Autocephaly, which will exclude such unpleasant cases in the future,” the appeal says.