Kiev, February 12, 2019
Photo: pravmir.ru An audio recording of His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine, Metropolitan Onuphry’s immediate predecessor, from 2006 has been posted on the site of the canonical Church’s Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kiev, which shows that the Ukrainian Church was already then aware of Patriarch Bartholomew’s ambitions in Ukraine.
The schismatics often claim that Met. Vladimir was more interested in dialoguing with them and that he would be supportive of the results of the “unification council” and Constantinople’s actions in Ukraine. Alexander Drabinko, one of the two canonical metropolitans who defected to the schismatic church, had been very close to Met. Vladimir.
On January 6, the day that Pat. Bartholomew handed the tomos of autocephaly to the Ukrainian schismatics, “Metropolitan” Epiphany Dumenko, the schismatic primate, claimed that the late head of the canonical Ukrainian Church “worked hard to make this day come.”
However, the recording of Met. Vladimir’s opening talk at a 2006 clergy meeting of the Kiev Diocese shows that the hierarchy of the canonical Church understood that Pat. Bartholomew wanted to unite the Ukrainian schismatics, neglecting the canons and Church rules, which, as is known, is what came to pass.
“Thirteen years ago, through the mouth of the Metropolitan of Kiev, prophetic words of warning were addressed to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, as a person bearing a potential threat to Ukrainian Orthodoxy. The cynicism with which is realized the malicious plan, aimed at deepening the schism and the further division of the faithful, is fully open to us today,” reads the commentary on Met. Vladimir’s words on the cathedral site.
“There is no peace, no consent,” Met. Vladimir says. “You have probably heard talk about two representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Kiev and in Lvov. Unfortunately, for our schismatics, who remain embittered until today, it’s quite beneficial because then the Patriarch can unconditionally accept them as his representatives and tell all of us that you didn’t want to do anything, despite the canonical rules, which the Patriarch of Constantinople first of all should stand for.”
His Beatitude explains: “Bishop Ilarion, one of our graduates from the Kiev Theological Academy, who studied in Greece, was accepted into the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and he’s been sitting here for fourth months already, if not more, stirring up the hearts and minds of the people in Lvov and in Kiev.”
Bishop Ilarion of Edmonton of the Ukrainian Church in Canada, under Constantinople, was one of the two Exarchs appointed by Constantinople in September to prepare for the “unification council” on December 15.
Met. Vladimir emphasizes that Bp. Ilarion had stated in an interview that, “Ukraine was not an independent state, and therefore it could obey the Russian Orthodox Church, but now the very logic of things demands that this not continue, and, if the Kiev Patriarchate and the Autocephalous Church want, they should unite and bow their heads before the omophorion of their All-Holiness.”
Commenting on Bp. Ilaron’s words, His Beatitude continued: “That means he is sitting silently until a determined time, and then he will cause trouble for our Church and Orthodoxy in general in Ukraine.”
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