German journalist: Situation with UOC threatens future of all Christianity
Gregor Fernbach notes that in traditionally Orthodox Ukraine, monasteries and churches are being shut down and confiscated, while priests and communities are being expelled.
The persecution of Christians – especially in Ukraine – evokes memories of the godless regimes of the Soviet era and offers a glimpse into a future where practicing the Christian faith may no longer be taken for granted. So said Gregor Fernbach, director of the German Orthodox publishing house Edition Hagia Sophia, in an interview with the UOJ in Germany.
According to Fernbach, the persecution of Orthodox Christians around the world has reached alarming proportions and remains largely underreported in the media.
He drew particular attention to the situation in Ukraine – “a traditionally Orthodox country” – where “monasteries and churches are being closed, confiscated, or converted to another faith.”
Such developments, he stated, along with “the expulsion of priests and communities,” recall the godless regimes of the Soviet era and allow people in Germany to foresee a future in which the practice of Christianity is no longer something taken for granted.
As the UOJ previously reported, the abbot of a German monastery earlier said that the current turmoil in Orthodoxy is the work of the devil.
