Limassol, Cyprus, September 30, 2021
Photo: philenews.com
Although he respects Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, His Eminence Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol cannot accept and agree with his interference in Ukraine.
As the hierarch of the Cypriot Orthodox Church stated in a recent interview with Philenews (published in English on Mystagogy), neither the sacred canons of the Church nor his conscience allow him to recognize the schismatics of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”
Met. Athanasios and other hierarchs have publicly opposed the creation of the OCU and Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus’ recognition of the schismatics several times, for which they have been threatened by the Archbishop.
Nevertheless, the Limassol prelate prefers to speak kindly of the Archbishop, saying he loves and respects him and has a good relationship with him.
But, he also emphasizes: “I disagree with the recognition of Epiphany as a canonical Primate of Ukraine for reasons mentioned in the Holy Canons… I disagreed with the Archbishop because without informing the Holy Synod, he commemorated Epiphany. He told us afterwards, ‘To my own knowledge I did it, I did not want to inform others,’ so he did it, and it was over.”
Met. Athansaios was among the minority of hierarchs who voted to oppose the Archbishop’s recognition of the schismatics, but in the end the Synod agreed simply to not oppose the primate’s decision.
“Besides this, I can do nothing else,” Met. Athanasios said in the interview.
His stance is not personal, Met. Athanasios explains, as he does not know either His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine or Epiphany Dumenko (the head of the graceless OCU), but rather “It was a matter of conscience, a matter of observing the sacred canons of the Church.”
And although there is a difference of opinion within the Cypriot Holy Synod, there is no threat of schism, Met. Athanasios believes.
He also warns against attempts to divide the Church between the Greeks and the Slavs. “We Greeks should not be separated from the other brothers. The Church is above racial discrimination,” he underlines.
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