Patriarch Kirill visits Odesa: other denominations are not invited

The Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa to be blessed on July 21 by Patriarch Kirill was renovated not only with the help of the Orthodox believers. Jews and Muslims also contributed to the renovation. This was noted during the official press conference by Hegumenia Seraphima of the Odesa St. Michael Monastery. But at the same time representatives of other denominations are not invited to any events which will take place during the Odesa visit, informed RISU Alexander Dobrojer.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarch (UOC-MP) Odesa eparchy press secretary Fr. Serhii Lebedev noted that more than 5,000 invitations were sent, most of which were intended for city and regional officials and the Black Sea Orthodox fund that renovated the cathedral. “We were not arranging the invitations and don’t know what the organizations have done with the invitations,” said Fr. Lebedev.

But the representative of the Odesa city administration noted that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has the right to invite other denominations. “For us all denominations are equal and we cannot hurt any of them – what can be the basis for us to invite or not to invite. For us the UOC-MP, the UOC-KP, and Protestant churches are religious organizations legally operating in Ukraine. It’s not within our right or our responsibility to invite or not to invite people to the meeting with the patriarch”

The decision to transfer the Odesa Transfiguration Cathedral to the authority of the Odesa Eparchy (UOC-MP) was made in 2005. This cathedral is in the list of Ukrainian historical monuments and valued at around 33 billion USD. The building was constructed according to modern technology taking into account the possibility of seismic activity in the region, with the heating and conditioning systems and bells controlled through a special computer program. And, of course, the building is constructed in accordance with all the church canons.