They count on the power of Moscow – Filaret explains unwillingness of members of former UOC to join OCU

Honorary Patriarch Filaret of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine explained the unwillingness of some representatives of the former UOC-Moscow Patriarchate to join the OCU by their reliance on the power of Moscow.

UNIAN reports him as saying this during a grateful prayer service for obtaining the Tomos of autocephaly and the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Lutsk. “Now the war is ongoing, and those of our brothers who do not want to unite with us, rely on the power of Moscow, but Moscow will lose its power, and the victory will be that of Ukraine, along with the entire civilized world – America and Europe, because we are not alone,” said Patriarch Filaret.

He emphasizes that “God is with us and truth is with us, and we are a peace-loving country – Ukraine has never conquered alien territories, it has always struggled to preserve its native land, and it does not capture other lands.”

The Honorary Patriarch has reiterated that Ukraine is seeking peace.

“We do not want to fight, but we will give our lives for our land,” he said. “We hope that we will win the victory in the east, unite and we will receive from the Ecumenical Patriarch the status of the Patriarchate,” Patriarch Filaret has summarized.