Greece, December 15, 2020
On October 12 last year, the Bishops’ Council of the Greek Orthodox Church voted to recognize Constantinople’s right to grant autocephaly in Ukraine and Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens’ authority to resolve the issue of whether to recognize the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” on behalf of the Greek Church.
On October 21, the Archbishop wrote an irenic letter to “Metropolitan” Epiphany Dumenko, indicating his recognition of the schismatic OCU, and on November 10, he commemorated Epiphany during the Divine Liturgy for the first time.
Despite the Council’s vote and the Archbishop’s decision, a number of Greek hierarchs, clerics, and laity continue to reject the Ukrainian schismatics. His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus recently referred to the creation and “autocephaly” of the OCU as the most tragic event in recent years. In November of last year, just after Abp. Ieronymos decided to recognize the schismatics, schismatic “hierarchs” led a pilgrimage to Greece, where they were warmly received in some places and totally rejected in others.
And as Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, the Deputy Chairman of the canonical Ukrainian Church’s Department for External Church Relations, writes, the issue of recognizing the OCU continues to sow discord and division within the Greek Church, between hierarchs and clergy of differing opinions.
Having spoke with a number of Greek clerics, Fr. Nikolai writes on his Telegram channel about how there are those taking a strong stand, refusing to concelebrate with those who recognize the schismatics. He writes:
I spoke with some Greek clergy. It turns out that at the grass-roots level there is internal opposition to the recognition of the “OCU” in several metropolises. This is reflected in the fact that many priests don’t want to concelebrate with those hierarchs and priests who have sullied themselves with concelebration with the “OCU.” They say that many priests either refuse, under various pretexts, to concelebrate when they are invited to feasts, or they go and pray in the altar, not vesting, so as not to concelebrate and not commune together with those who have disgraced themselves by concelebrating with the schismatics.
Of course, the divisions caused by Patriarch Bartholomew’s inept interference in the life of the Ukrainian Church extend beyond the Ukrainian and Greek Churches. More than 100 clergymen from the Patriarchate of Alexandria have appealed to be accepted into the Russian Orthodox Church following Patriarch Theodoros’ unilateral decision to recognize the schismatics in November last year.
And in Cyprus, where Archbishop Chrysostomos also unilaterally decided to recognize the schismatics, the Holy Synod voted by a small majority simply “not to oppose” his decision, while some hierarchs in the minority, including His Eminence Metropolitan Nikiforos of Kykkos and His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah of Tamassos, have stated that they cannot serve with Abp. Chrysostmos as long as he commemorates the schismatic Epiphany Dumenko. And if the Archbishop goes so far as to concelebrate with Dumenko, then there will be a real schism in the Cypriot Church, Met. Nikiforos believes.
Meanwhile, Abp. Chrysostomos threatened to defrock any hierarchs who don’t concelebrate with him.
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