Parishioners of Latvian Orthodox churches appealed to the clergy of the LOC with a request to preserve the unity of the Church. The appeal was published by the Telegram channel Voice of Orthodoxy LV.
“In connection with the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church held on August 24, 2023, with humility and love in Christ, we ask you to preserve in integrity and unity the flock entrusted to you by God! We ask you to respect the Statutes of our Church, not to allow violations of the canons and to resume the remembrance of His Holiness the Patriarch at Litanies, Great Entrance and all the proper places of divine service,” the appeal reads.
The parishioners recalled the words of Patriarch Kirill, pronounced at the Council of Bishops on July 19, 2023: “The clergy have the right not to fulfill the lawless demands to refuse to commemorate the Patriarch, and the laity rightfully expect their clergy to perform such commemoration and preserve the unity of the Church.”
“We ask you to fearlessly raise your voice in defense of the unity of the Church. Let no political interests override our desire to be saved and to grow spiritually in the bosom of the canonical Church. We are called to pray for friends and enemies, near and far, for our native Latvia and the whole world. In the history of the world we can observe many periods when pastors have deviated from the direct path of following Christ into heresies and schisms. As a consequence, the grace of God withdrew from the whole nation, and people were subjected to countless calamities. God forbid that we should live through the days of God’s wrath!” – emphasized the authors of the appeal.
They also drew the attention of the clergy that “now is the time when the fate of the Latvian Orthodox Church is being decided – whether to preserve its legal status or to make a schism. St. John Chrysostom says: “The sin of schism is not washed away even with martyr’s blood”. Now is the time to choose whether you will go down in the history of our Church as confessors who have received crowns of incorruptibility, or whether you will choose the path of schismatics and traitors”.
