Kiev, June 27, 2018
Photo: news.church.ua The Hierarchical Assembly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, meeting in the Kiev Caves Lavra on Monday, released a statement in response to and in reflection of the recent meeting in Constantinople between His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and members of the Constantinople Holy Synod and a delegation from the Ukrainian Holy Synod.
The Ukrainian delegation had the opportunity to spend several hours discussing the ongoing situation in Ukrainian Orthodoxy with the Constantinople delegation, expressing their concerns about the possibility of the Ecumenical Patriarchate unilaterally granting a tomos of autocephaly to a united Ukrainian Church, thereby legitimizing the nationalistic schismatic bodies that are seeking autocephaly in order to separate themselves from the Moscow Patriarchate.
Pat. Bartholomew made clear during the course of the meeting that, despite information being spread in the media, there are no plans to unilaterally intervene in the affairs of the Russian and Ukrainian Churches.
Moreover, not only does the canonical Ukrainian Church object to the possibility of granting autocephaly to Ukrainian schismatics, but its bishops have also declared that they have no need to seek autocephaly, but are perfectly capable of carrying out their ministry as an autonomous branch of the Moscow Patriarchate, thereby demonstrating their spiritual focus as opposed to the nationalistic focus of the Ukrainian schismatics.
The bishops write, “The existing canonical status is quite sufficient for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to fruitfully carry out its mission among the people of Ukraine. Attempts to alter this status will only lead to a limiting of the rights and freedoms our Church has been endowed with, having the rights of broad autonomy. Furthermore, these attempts will not cure, but only deepen the schism, both in Ukrainian Orthodoxy and in Ukrainian society as a whole.”
Read the Assembly’s full statement here.
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