The Primate of the Orthodox Church of
Ukraine, Metropolitan Epifaniy, supported the protests in Belarus and
called on the Belarusian people to “protect the democratic and
independent future of their country”.
The head of the
OCU outlined its message with the symbol of the protests-a
white-red-white flag. Metropolitan Epifaniy also spoke to them in
Belarusian.
“As the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, we
cannot remain indifferent and not feel compassion when the future of the
Belarusian people, the independence of the state, the freedom and
security of citizens, their lives are under threat,” Epifaniy wrote on
Facebook.
He wished the Belarusian people “to protect their dignity and freedom, the democratic and independent future of their country”.
Metropolitan Epifaniy called on the
Belarusian authorities to immediately stop the violence and release
thousands of 'innocently detained' people.
The Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church, which received the Tomos of autocephaly in 2019, called on
Belarusians to strive to create their own Autocephalous Orthodox Church.