Zoria hinted that diplomatic work should be carried out with the new SOC Patriarch and reminded that the favour of Cyprus, Greece and Alexandria did not appear suddenly.

The OCU hopes that with the arrival of Patriarch Porfirije, the Serbian Church will change its irreconcilable position towards the OCU. The spokesperson for this schismatic structure, Ivan (Eustratiy) Zoria, wrote on his Facebook page that “every long journey always begins with one step. And it is better that it is a step forward.”

Zoria recalled that “not so long ago, Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria considered “Moscow’s main ally”, and now “we all enjoy the support of the Alexandrian, Cypriot and Greek Churches. And it didn’t appear ‘suddenly’.”

At the same time, Zoria said that “congratulations to the Primate of the Serbian Church (Dumenko has already sent a “fraternal greeting” to Patriarch Porfirije – Ed.) do not automatically oblige to recognize everything that is the position of this Church.”

We recall that it is Zoria who in 2015 accused Patriarch Theodore of “corruption” in Moscow, calling his statements in support of the UOC “Alexandrian hit piece”: “Once Moscow bought the Kyiv Metropolis for 120 sables and 200 chervontsy. Now it buys statements in its support for vestments (instead of sables). How many chervontsy were spent – maybe someday history will also tell us… So, I don’t know as for the others, but for me such a bought opinion not only costs nothing but vice versa – confirmation of the wrongness of those in whose favour this vip-‘hit piece’ sounds.”

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