On January 7, the Vicar of the Kyiv Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in unity with the Moscow Patriarchate, Bishop Gedeon (Haron) of Makariv, held an all-night vigil in the Kazan (Tatarstan, Russian Federation) men’s monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church, co-serving with the Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill of Kazan and Tatarstan.
This is reported by the official press service of the Kazan Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Spiritual Front of Ukraine saw.
As noted on the website, during the service “prayers were offered for the Russian military and for peace.”
In addition, the message of Moscow Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev), who supports the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine, was read out.
This is not the last service of the UOC (MP) hierarch, who has not yet been banned from serving in this Church. According to information on the website of the Tatarstan Metropolis of the Russian Orthodox Church, Gideon (Haron) has been in the Russian Federation for more than two years. On January 23, 2021, the first mention of his stay in Russia appeared on the ROC website.
On January 7 of this year, Gideon attended the “holiday Liturgy” in the capital of Tatarstan.
Neither the head of the UOC (MP) Onufriy, nor the Synod of the UOC (MP) applied any punishment to the cleric who considers it normal to pray for the Russian troops and to stain in Russia, which is ravaging Ukraine.
Previously, the UOC (MP) only appointed new bishops to replace fugitive hierarchs. In the case of Bishop of Makariv even this was not done, although the Makariv district is one of the most obliterated ones due to Russian aggression.
Interestingly, Bishop Gedeon used to serve in the church outside the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv, which is set to be demolished due to illegal construction.
