The Orthodox Church of Lithuania wants to speed up the process of moving away from the Moscow Patriarchate. To do this, they adopted an appeal to the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Church also condemned the war that Russia is waging against Ukraine. This happened on December 27 during the general meeting of the Lithuanian Orthodox Church in Vilnius.
What is known about the statement of the Lithuanian Orthodox Church
At the meeting, the Orthodox Church of Lithuania at all levels – bishops, clergy and laity:
- condemned the war against Ukraine;
- supported the anti-war position of its primate Metropolitan Vilna and Lithuanian Innokenty;
- confirmed the course towards gaining greater church independence and adopted a corresponding appeal to the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The principal position of the Lithuanian Orthodox Church is that the church status should be brought into line with the real state of affairs, the church said in a statement.
They also noted that their relationship is the Moscow Patriarchate: “… There are exclusively canonical ones and by no means interfere with church independence.”
It should be noted that earlier the primate of the church, Metropolitan Innokenty, applied to the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church with a request that the Lithuanian Orthodox Archdiocese be granted the status of a self-governing church.
Pay attention! In May 2022, Prime Minister of Lithuania Ingrida Simonyte wrote a letter to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. She supported the Orthodox Christians of Lithuania who wanted to secede from the Moscow Patriarchate. After all, Kirill's public support for the war against Ukraine is unacceptable for some Orthodox Christians in Lithuania.
Important news about the Russian Orthodox Church
- The American Institute for the Study of War stated that the rector of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill, supports the war against Ukraine. However, he asked that his priests not be mobilized for the war in Ukraine, that is, for certain death.
- In particular, Kirill said that the church was released during the period of partial mobilization. However, the Kremlin has called for this provision to be formally legislated for priests.
- It should be noted that the Russian Orthodox Church may be held responsible for the genocide against the Ukrainian nation. Read more about it behind the link.
