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The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has accused the Moscow Patriarchate of Pharisaism and the glorification of the Antichrist. In a sermon delivered on November 1, Metropolitan Epiphanius (Dumenko), Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, accused the Moscow Patriarchate of Pharisaism. “The spirit of Pharisaism and legalism continues to divide the Church in our own time. It is precisely this spirit of archaic legalism that has gripped the followers of the Moscow Patriarchate—those who sow division within the Church. They reject faith as the foundation of ecclesial unity, substituting it with their own rules and prescriptions—much like the adversaries of the Apostle Paul, who insisted that the primary mark of belonging was not faith in Christ, but the ancient rite of circumcision. They place devotion to the ‘Moscow throne’ above devotion to the Cross of Christ. Consequently, they reject many fellow Christians—and even their own Mother Church, the Church of Constantinople—while simultaneously extolling a modern-day, bloodthirsty Antichrist who rules over the Russian ‘empire of evil.’ They align themselves with all those who share his mindset, regardless of their actual confession of faith—a fact made abundantly clear by their actions. They have replaced the conciliarity of Christ’s Church with a ‘World Russian Council’; instead of peace, they offer blessings for war; and they have swapped the Cross of Christ for the letter ‘Z’ and a blood-stained sword—a sword they have raised against their own brothers, intent on killing them, just as Cain killed Abel.”