“Sinful and inexplicable”: Patriarch Kirill denounces Patriarch Bartholomew’s visit to Ukraine

Moscow, August 30, 2021

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Patriarch Bartholomew’s recent visit to Ukraine was “sinful and inexplicable,” His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow said in his homily on the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos on Saturday.

The primate of Constantinople visited Ukraine on August 20-24 to participate in the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ukrainian independence. During his stay, he met with a number of politicians and concelebrated several times with the unordained schismatics of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”

According to Orthodox canon law, hierarchs may visit other dioceses only with the blessing of the ruling bishop of that diocese. However, Pat. Bartholomew traveled to Ukraine at the invitation not of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, but of President Vladimir Zelensky.

The Orthodox faithful prayerfully protested leading up to and during his visit, denouncing his interference in the life of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church which has resulted in physical and legal violence against the Church.

The Patriarch preached at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow on Saturday:

May the Most Holy Theotokos help preserve the unity of the Orthodox Churches, which is being torn apart by the forces of evil today. And we know what is happening today in world Orthodoxy, how these forces, using the difficult situation that has developed in Ukraine, are trying to break the unity of the Orthodox Church. And in some ways they are succeeding: An example of this is the sinful and inexplicable visit of the Patriarch of Constantinople to Kiev and his concelebration with schismatics.

However, Orthodox Christians always preserve hope in the Lord:

This event once again testifies to us about the most difficult path that the Church of Christ follows. But we believe that, despite the divisions and schisms, by the grace of God, the Church will be preserved and will bring its faithful children to the end of history. And in this hope in the unshakable power of grace that lives in the Church, our hope is rooted in the ability to overcome sin and unrighteousness in our personal lives and strive for salvation granted to us in Christ Jesus, Who came into the world through His Most Pure Mother, the Virgin Theotokos, whose glorious Dormition we solemnly glorify. Amen.

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8/30/2021

See also
Metropolitan Onuphry: Constantinople’s secularism and liberalism is root cause of break in communion Metropolitan Onuphry: Constantinople’s secularism and liberalism is root cause of break in communion Metropolitan Onuphry: Constantinople’s secularism and liberalism is root cause of break in communion Metropolitan Onuphry: Constantinople’s secularism and liberalism is root cause of break in communion
The reason for the current division is that some representatives of Constantinople who are inclined towards free thinking and liberalism “have repeatedly tried to justify and accept laws that disagree with the Holy Gospel, which the secular world actively tries to implement in our lives today,” the Ukrainian primate notes. “It is Not Too Late to Stop” “It is Not Too Late to Stop”
A Sorrowful Reply to Patriarch Bartholomew Concerning His Anti-Canonical Actions in Ukraine “It is Not Too Late to Stop” “It is Not Too Late to Stop”
A Sorrowful Reply to Patriarch Bartholomew Concerning His Anti-Canonical Actions in Ukraine
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill
In reply to a letter of His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, in which he informed of all his decisions and actions regarding the granting of autocephaly to Ukraine, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia expressed his deep pain, astonishment and indignation over the anti-canonical actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Metropolitan Hilarion: Patriarch Bartholomew will bear personal responsibility before the Judgement of God and the judgement of history Metropolitan Hilarion: Patriarch Bartholomew will bear personal responsibility before the Judgement of God and the judgement of history
On September 8, 2018, after his interview broadcast live on the Russia-24 TV channel, Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations, made the following statement for the mass media.
Comments
Jesse Dominick8/31/2021 9:36 pm
Steve, no one was saying his visit itself would be violent, but that it might embolden the schismatics to ramp up their attempts at church seizures and all that. We'll have to see how that works out.
Jason8/31/2021 7:58 pm
Steve: Yes, peaceful. But spiritually lawless. He avoided all contact with the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and continues to stop his ears to the truth. God is his judge.
Steve8/31/2021 3:42 pm
I have to admit, though, it sounds like it was a peaceful visit. Where were all the violent acts that were predicted to happen with the patriarch's visit? I didn't hear about any, at least from this website.
Matushka Faith Johnson8/31/2021 1:49 am
Shame, on divisive people. It's not yours! God Bless Patriarch Kyrill and Metropolitan Onuphry.
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