Picket against Pontiff’s visit to Ukraine held near the Vatican’s Embassy – Interfax
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08 December 2015, 10:05
Picket against Pontiff’s visit to Ukraine held near the Vatican’s Embassy
Moscow, December 8, Interfax – Participants in the procession with cross on Sunday, the Day of St. Alexander of Neva, held a picket at the Vatican Embassy in Kyiv.
Orthodox believers held banners “No to Vatican’s proselytism in Orthodox Ukraine,” “Visit to the Russian Orthodox Church canonical territory without its consent is a violation of church rules.”
They also conveyed an address to nuncio in Ukraine Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti where they said that Ukrainian president Pyotr Poroshenko during his visit to Vatican on November 20 invited Pope Francis of Rome to visit Ukraine.
“The pontiff officially accepted the invitation. It means that supposed visit of the pope of Rome will take place in the time agreed at the level of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and Vatican,” the document reads.
Its authors reminded that the pope’s visit to any country is usually held as missionary pastoral visit and according to the rules of interconfessional relations such a visit to the canonical territory of another Church should be agreed with leaders of the Church.
The embassy was the last destination of the procession with cross in which several hundreds of people participated. They went along the central streets from the Kyiv Laura of the Caves and prayed at the place where the camp church of St. Alexander of Neva was earlier located. The authorities destroyed it in 2011, now the holy cross is set up there.
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