Kiev, December 13, 2018
Photo: spzh.news Following the example of their prayerful archpastor His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, more than 50 bishops of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church have returned to Constantinople the invitations they received to Saturday’s “unification council” that will be led by Metropolitan Emmanuel of Gaul of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Met. Onuphry received an insulting and threatening letter from Pat. Bartholomew in October, but, as OrthoChristian previously reported, instead of responding in kind, he simply placed it in an envelope and mailed it back to the patriarch.
As the Union of Orthodox Journalists (UOJ) has learned, at least 56 other bishops of the Ukrainian Church have followed their primate’s lead and also returned their invitations—not counting those who had refused to accept the invitation in the first place.
Along with their invitations, the bishops also received a copy of the letter to Met. Onuphry that declared that his title and position is in violation of historical canonical documents and that after Saturday’s “council,” Constantinople will consider him officially schismatic.
Meanwhile, the dioceses of the Ukrainian Church have been, one-by-one, declaring their support for their beloved primate Met. Onuphry.
The UOJ also reports that in many cases, the invitations were not addressed to the hierarchs themselves, but to the local governmental heads who were then to summon the bishops to come receive their invitation. His Grace Bishop Pimen of Dubno, vicar of the Rivne Diocese, was among those who refused the invitation from the local administration, saying ecclesiastical matters should be handled through proper Church channels.
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