The publication “Orthodox times” called the statements of Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk that the visit of Patriarch Bartholomew to Ukraine would lead to a new wave of seizures of the UOC churches – “a hidden threat”, and the processions that took place in the dioceses of the UOC on the Week of the Triumph of Orthodoxy – “crusades” of “Moscow Patriarchate”.

“It is noteworthy that on the website of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, headed by Hilarion, on the same day an article was published with an interview about the“ crusades ”conducted by the Moscow Patriarchate in various parts of Ukraine on the occasion of the Week of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. It is significant that the text, in addition to the places where the “crusades” took place, mentions the number of their participants, which may be a “demonstration of strength” that the Russian Church can mobilize “on the streets.”

Thus, the recent interview with Metropolitan Hilarion, which speaks of the alleged danger in connection with the visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to Ukraine, can only be perceived as a “warning” about problems on the part of the Russian Church, and not as a statement of the real situation prevailing in Ukraine” , – wrote the edition.