"Several priests from Ukraine have reached out to me and have expressed their interest in moving to Canada as a result of the military operation," Archbishop Gabriel said. "I told them that unfortunately we do not have any vacancies in our Canadian diocese."
The Canadian diocese of the ROCOR is relatively small and has not more than 30 parishes, and all clergy positions are currently filled, the archbishop explained.
"Thank God, we have priests in every parish, and we just have no place for these priests to be accepted," Gabriel added.
The Archbishop noted that he had not heard about refugees from Ukraine coming to the Canadian diocese, but expressed readiness to help them as far as possible.
Ottawa is partnering with the country’s flag carrier and charities with the goal of relocating at least 10,000 Ukrainians to Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said last week.
On February 24, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics requested help to defend them from intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the special operation aims to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine and it solely targets the country's military infrastructure.
In response, the United States and its allies have imposed comprehensive sanctions against Russia and supplied Ukraine with offensive and defensive weapons worth tens of billions of dollars.