Met. Tikhon voices support for UOC on behalf of Orthodox Church in America
"We have brought along prayers and love from the fullness of the Orthodox Church in America," said the Primate of the American Church.
His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada reiterated his unyielding fraternal love and support for His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry and the plentitude of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He made this statement in his address after the Divine Liturgy at the Bancheny Monastery, as reported by the UOC website.
"Your Beatitude, I am deeply touched by your warm hospitality and the wonderful gift you have bestowed on me. I would like to reiterate my unyielding fraternal love and support for Your Beatitude, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and the entire Ukrainian people," said the Primate of the American Church.
Metropolitan Tikhon also reiterated his hope that the civil authorities of Ukraine would honor religious freedom in the country.
"In this regard, we affirm the right and obligation of your beloved country, of Ukraine, to defend itself against unjustified aggression. But we also implore the civil authorities of this land to respect religious freedom, due process, and the norms of international law," he underscored.
The Primate of the OCA also assured of his love for His Beatitude Onuphry, the God-protected Ukrainian Church, and all Ukrainian people who are currently engaged in a struggle to preserve both their land and their freedom.
"But above all, Your Beatitude, I bring with me, along with the members of my delegation, the prayers and greetings from the entire Orthodox Church in America, our priests, our bishops, our monastics, and our faithful," said His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon.
Pointing out that we are always under the patronage of the prayers of the Holy Saints of God, he presented Metropolitan Onuphry with an icon of the Synaxis of Orthodox Saints in America.
"I would like to present Your Beatitude with this icon of All the Saints of North America as a remembrance of this visit, but above all, as an expression of the prayers of the Church in North America for your Beatitude, for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and for all Ukrainian people," concluded the OCA Primate.
As reported by the UOJ, the head of the Church in America called on the authorities of Ukraine to respect religious freedom.
