The Serbian Primate wished that the coming years of His Beatitude's ministry would be years of peace.

Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia congratulated Metropolitan Onuphry on the 9th anniversary of his enthronement, reports the UOC press service.
He noted that the service of His Beatitude Onuphry radiates Christ-likeness and care for the salvation of the flock.
"The pastoral dignity as a grace gift of the Holy Spirit implies the highest service in the Church, which, following the example of Archpastor Christ, is paradoxical means for the world but for us, Orthodox, it naturally manifests itself through service to others. Your service to Christ, the entrusted hierarchy and the flock radiates precisely such Christ-likeness, devotion and concern for the salvation of people you prayerfully care for," said the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
"With brotherly love and hope in Christ, we pray that the coming years of your service to God and the people would be years of peace, blessing and growth," concluded the Serbian Patriarch.
As reported, the Macedonian Primate congratulated His Beatitude on the anniversary of his enthronement.

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The Reserve leadership considers students, teachers, and staff of Kyiv theological schools to be “visitors” of the monastery and forbids them to be there.
The administration of the National Reserve "Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra" disallowed access to the territory of the monastery for students, teachers and other employees of the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary. This is said in the letter of acting Director General of the Reserve Maksym Ostapenko, addressed to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy. A photocopy of the letter was published by the Lavra live Telegram channel.
Ostapenko writes that “due to the repeated obstruction of the work of the commission for sealing the buildings”, the reserve, from August 11, 2023, by a special order closed the territory of the Lower Lavra for visitors, and also “determined the procedure for access to the territory of the Lower Lavra only for priests, monks, and attendants” of the monastery and the arrival/departure of its vehicles."
“The Reserve and the Theological Academy do not have contractual relations regarding the activities of the Theological Academy on the territory and in the buildings of the Lower Lavra, as well as regarding the stay of its students, teachers, and employees there,” the letter says. “In view of the foregoing, the Reserve cannot give permission to students, teachers, and employees of the Theological Academy, since they are considered visitors, whose access to the territory of the Lower Lavra is closed according to the order of the Reserve.”
As reported by the UOJ, the rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary, Archbishop Sylvester, refuted the accusations of the Ministry of Culture that the monastery allegedly illegally subleased the buildings of the Lavra to the KDAiS.
In 2023, 107 applicants entered the Kyiv Theological Schools.

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The military stand at the cathedral and temple in the village of Dovzhok, from where the religious procession to Pochaiv should depart.

On August 18, 2023, employees of the Territorial Recruiting Centre showed up at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral of the UOC in Kamyanets-Podilsky and the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in the village of Dovzhok (from where the religious procession to Pochaiv traditionally departs). They began distributing summonses to believers who had come to the city for the cross procession to Pochaiv. This is reported by the UOJ correspondent.
According to him, several men have received a summons.
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that in Kamyanets-Podilsky, the police cordoned off the cathedral and forced all the people who had come to the city for the religious procession to the Pochaiv Lavra to leave the territory.

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It all started with the illegal ban of the local authorities on pilgrimages in the region. This ban applies exclusively to parishioners of the UOC. No one interfered similar events of other faiths.
On August 18, checkpoints appeared at the entrance to the city of Kamyanets-Podolsky, where people who looked like pilgrims were stopped. Across the country, secret services and police agents stopped buses with believers and recorded their personal data. Made some lists.
Hundreds of believers of the UOC from all over the country gathered today at the cathedral where the pilgrimage to the Pochaev Lavra starts. To honor a pious tradition that is already 200 years old.

During the festive service, the cathedral was surrounded by police officers. They didn’t allow any of the worshipers to leave the territory for a long time.

After, they gave one passage, where they began to stop all the men. Their documents were checked and mobilization orders to the army were massively issued. The police walk around the area armed with assault rifles.
They are trying to intimidate believers and prevent them from praying.

This is a flagrant violation of the rights and freedoms of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine.

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The head of DESS and priests of the Orthodox Church in America talked about the situation in world Orthodoxy in general, and in Ukraine – in particular.
On 18 August 2023, the head of the State Service for Religion and Ethnopolitics (DESS), Viktor Yelensky, met with representatives of the Orthodox Church in America, Archpriest Alexander Rentel, the Chancellor of the OCA, and Archpriest Nazariy Polataiko, reports DESS on its Facebook.
According to the DESS, "During the meeting, there was a frank conversation about the situation in world Orthodoxy in general and in Orthodoxy in Ukraine – in particular."
"There was a sincere exchange of views on the challenges facing the Orthodox Churches in the context of the Moscow Patriarchate's unconditional legitimisation of the aggressive Russian invasion; Patriarch Kirill's attempts to form his own version of the 'theology of war', which defiantly contradicts the Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, as well as elementary norms of human morality," wrote Yelensky.
Representatives of the OCA noted that their Church "condemns the war waged by Russia against Ukraine, is deeply indignant at the destruction caused by the occupiers, including to Orthodox churches and monasteries, and wishes the people of Ukraine a speedy and just peace".
Particular attention, according to the DESS report, "was paid to the processes taking place in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, its relations with Ukrainian society and the Ukrainian state".
As earlier reported, American journalist Tucker Carlson said that the Ukrainian authorities' persecution of the UOC is a barbaric thing.

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