Contrary to the statements by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church claiming its independence from the Moscow Patriarchate, Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church continues insisting on the opposite and calls on the believers from the UOC to confess. He made the corresponding statements in his Christmas message, writes Christians Against War.
“I express special gratitude to all who, currently performing pastoral service within the borders of Ukraine, sometimes at the risk of life and health, continue to maintain loyalty to canonical Orthodoxy, who fearlessly follow the path of confession, endure shaming and grief for Christ and for the Church. May the Lord help such courageous defenders and champions of the Truth in trials and may He count their sufferings as righteousness.
No matter what, we are spiritually one. We are one because we came out of the one baptismal font. We are one because together, we represent the fullness of the One, Holy, and Apostolic Church. We are one because we are bound by the unbreakable bonds of love in Christ. We are one because the words of the Savior, who said: “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20), are unbreakable. Therefore, we, Christians, have no one and nothing to fear, as the Apostle Paul reminds us, exclaiming: “If God is with us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). Inspired by this promise, we live and work, fight and conquer in the name of the Lord, because, as the Holy Apostle Peter writes, “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).”
