Patriarch Daniil calls on the faithful to pray for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil has called on the faithful to pray for the strengthening of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is threatened with closure. He presided over the holy liturgy celebrated today in the church "St. Ivan Rilski" in Pernik.

"Let us earnestly pray that the Lord will strengthen our brothers and sisters from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, enlighten the statesmen, give peace to the Ukrainian land. End this war, this fratricide", declared the patriarch.

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law banning the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and the official text of the law was published on the parliament's website, world news agencies reported.

"Ukrainian Orthodoxy is today taking a step towards freeing itself from the demons of Moscow," Zelensky said on the country's Independence Day from the Soviet Union.

The Russian-linked church has about 9,000 parishes in Ukraine – roughly the same as its independent rival, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which was granted ecclesiastical independence by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul.