The Primate of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Savva of Warsaw and All Poland, in his message to the faithful in honor of Lent, drew attention to the situation with the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This is reported by the official website of the PAOC.

“Modern Christianity is going through difficult and complex times. In society there are more and more conflicts, national and religious differences. In the Holy Land, war continues, in which many people die. In neighboring Poland, Ukraine, the ongoing armed conflict has turned to religious ground. The Orthodox Church has been divided, persecution continues, and shrines are being forcibly taken away. Disorder reigns in the country. The world created by God has lost its original harmony: and the whole world lies in evil (1 Jn 5:19)”, – Metropolitan Savva noted.

The First Hierarch called for increased fasting and prayer so that conflicts would cease and peace would reign in the world.

“On the eve of the beginning of Lent, Mother Church, in the words of Christ: This generation does not go out [otherwise] than by prayer and fasting (Mt 17:21; cf. Mk 9:29), in a special way exhorts all of us faithful together to undertake the labor of fasting, increased prayer and spiritual purification. May these actions be a sacrifice acceptable to God, which will be accepted for the sake of ending all unrest and conflicts in the world”, – concluded the Primate of the Polish Church.

We would like to point out that the Primate of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Savva of Warsaw and All Poland, condemned the decision of the Ukrainian authorities to forcibly postpone the celebration of Christmas from 7 January to 25 December. The head of the PAOC said that such a decision was a step towards a new union.