“On the occasion of the twelfth anniversary of Your Beatitude's election as Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine, please accept my heartfelt congratulations and assurances of the prayers of the clergy and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America

“Your Beatitude, our dear brother and co-celebrant in Christ! We send you our sincere congratulations on the anniversary of your enthronement as Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine

“through his unceasing prayer, high authority, and paternal love, His Beatitude embraces the sorrows of his flock

“Patriarch Porfirije wished Metropolitan Onuphry God's help, good health, spiritual and physical strength, wisdom, and joy in his continued archpastoral ministry

“by the wise providence of God, His Beatitude Onuphry has been spiritually guiding the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for twelve years, proving himself to be a cornerstone who, despite all trials, steadfastly bears witness to the truth and verity of the Gospel

“Patriarch Shio III wished the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church strength of soul and body, as well as the inexhaustible help of the Lord in carrying out his archpastoral ministry for the benefit of the Church.

“Metropolitan Tikhon assured His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of the prayers of the OCA clergy and faithful.

“I thank the most gracious God for the supreme gift of the priesthood: eight years as a deacon, four as a priest, 18 as a metropolitan and 35 as Ecumenical Patriarch, in the service of the entire Christian community under the dominion of the Lord, of the Great Church, of inter-Orthodox cooperation, inter-Christian and interreligious dialogues, peace and solidarity, the protection of the natural environment and the encounter between the Church and the contemporary world,

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I ›

His All-Holiness

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