Church leaders in Ukraine have deplored the growing number of civilian deaths in the current war and have backed calls for firmer Western action, as the Patriarch of Moscow disregarded worldwide appeals for him to condemn the invasion and urge a halt to the fighting.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the people of Ukraine are suffering hourly from the terrible realities of war \u2014 and these are innocent sufferings, since they have done no harm to Russia,\u201d the leader of Ukraine\u2019s independent Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Epiphany Dumenko, said in a Sunday message to his clergy.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet us be comforted by the realisation that our innocent sufferings will be crowned inevitably with victory and eternal glory, just as the sufferings of Christ were crowned with them. . . With God\u2019s help we will win \u2014 and Ukraine, now crucified by the Russian occupiers, will be resurrected.\u201d<\/p>\n
The message was one of several issued by the Metropolitan on Sunday, after talks with the Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, and the commander of Ukrainian forces defending the capital.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n "With God\u2019s help we will win \u2014 and Ukraine, now crucified by the Russian occupiers, will be resurrected." https:\/\/t.co\/fImRjcsxuG<\/a><\/p>\n — Church Times (@ChurchTimes) March 8, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n