On March 8, 2023, Seraphim, Metropolitan of Kitira and Antikythera of the Hellenic Orthodox Church, stated that the UOC is being cruelly and mercilessly persecuted by the leadership of the OCU. This is reported by the Greek edition of “Dogma”.
The hierarch noted that the situation around the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and the possible eviction of the monks of the UOC is “a sad event of spiritual texture and significance.”
Metropolitan Seraphim stated that “the Orthodox martyr people of Ukraine and its canonical Orthodox Church under the leadership of Metropolitan Onufry, together with the Holy Hierarchy, are cruelly and mercilessly persecuted by the leadership of the anti-canonical “hierarchy” of the OCU and the “sword” of the Ukrainian state power.”
The bishop emphasized that the ruling “hierarchy” of the OCU and the Ukrainian authorities “conspired to expel the monks from the monastery of their repentance.”