Ugandan clergy representatives thanked the ROC for its steadfastness
Ugandan priests join the Russian Church because it defends Orthodox teaching, opposes a split in world Orthodoxy and does not discriminate against people, Ugandan clergy representatives told RIA Novosti.
"We are switching to the Russian Orthodox Church for a number of reasons. The Russian Orthodox Church stands on the true teaching. In addition, it does not discriminate against people. But first of all, because our mother church has faced a huge test, and this test is the schism. The Russian Orthodox Church staunchly resists the schism, and we all, our brothers and sisters, are happy to defend the Orthodox teaching under its omophorion and the leadership of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia," said Priest David Lakuo from northern Uganda.
Deacon Athanasius Och from Uganda told RIA Novosti that he was grateful to the Russian Orthodox Church for its presence in the country, thanks to which he could feel like a clergyman again.
"I am very grateful to the Russian Orthodox Church for being present here in Uganda. In fact, I feel like a clergyman again, because for a long time I felt bound and abandoned. After graduating from the seminary here, you are left to yourself, you are ignored, and no one cares about it: you have been trained, but all efforts are in vain. I am extremely grateful to the Russian Orthodox Church for this new feeling," he said.
Uganda, in the east of which Deacon Athanasius serves, is part of the South African Diocese of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa, whose department is located in Johannesburg. It was there that the first-ever pastoral visit of the Patriarchal exarch of Africa of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Leonid (Gorbachev) of Klin, took place from May 18 to 22. During the trip, Metropolitan Leonid held a number of meetings, including with compatriots living in Uganda and with Ugandan clergy who have converted to the Russian Church.