OCU cancels veneration of several Theotokos icons and "ROC-related saints"

The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. Photo: wikimedia.org

The Synod of the OCU, which took place in Kyiv on July 14, made several calendrical decisions, as a result of which they abolished the veneration of several icons of the Mother of God and saints that, in their opinion, are exclusively associated with the Russian Orthodox Church, reports the OCU website.

It is reported that the following icons of the Holy Mother of God were excluded from the list of venerated icons: Kazan, Iveron, Troeruchytsia, and Semistrilna. According to the members of the OCU synod, these Theotokos icons are somehow connected with the history of the "Moscow state", and therefore have no place in the OCU church calendar.

In addition, Dumenko's structure excluded Saint Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow, Kyiv, and all Rus. The OCU claims that Saint Jonah, "contrary to the canons, without synodal decisions and the blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarch," divided the Kyiv Metropolis, effectively forming a separate Moscow Metropolis, and after that tried to establish control over the Kyiv See, where another metropolitan had been appointed.

As the UOUJ wrote, the "Holy Synod" of the OCU made an appeal, calling on all Orthodox Christians of Ukraine to "unite around the Kyiv throne".

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