Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany grants an interview to the Union of Orthodox Journalists

His Eminence Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia comments on the ecclesiastical situation in Ukraine:

According to Metropolitan Mark, the intervention of the Constantinople Church resulted in its granting a Tomos of autocephaly to a schismatic structure in Ukraine. His Eminence particularly emphasized that a layperson—a man "who has neither priestly nor episcopal ordination"—was placed at the head of this entity.

“How to overcome this schism – it is impossible to say today. But the truth will prevail,” the hierarch emphasized. In response to the question of how believers of the [canonical] Ukrainian Orthodox Church should defend their faith, the Metropolitan stressed that one should rely on the examples of the saints.

“Saint Gregory the Theologian was at one time the only Orthodox bishop in Constantinople. And he had only one small church there. All other church buildings were in the hands of heretics. He was questioned, slandered, and persecuted by many, including those in power,” Metropolitan Mark recounted. “By firmly and unequivocally preserving the true faith, he triumphed, his theology prevailed, and it has defined Orthodoxy for centuries. Thus, in the end, the truth was established.”

"Therefore no one should be discouraged or lose hope. God protects His children, even when the struggle at the moment seems unequal, when heretics and schismatics are in the majority. Truth already carries victory within itself, even if it is not outwardly visible," emphasized the hierarch.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to the head of the Polish Church, His Eminence Metropolitan Savva, Epiphaniy Dumenko is a layman. "This young secular person was greatly harmed when he was appointed metropolitan," noted the primate. "In the light of canonical law, he is not a clergyman. He is not ordained in the canonical Church."