Kiev, March 3, 2022
Photo: pravlife.org
The Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary addressed the clergy of the Church yesterday, calling on them to focus on their pastoral ministry in these trying times, and not to act based on emotion.
As OrthoChristian reported yesterday, a growing number of hierarchs and dioceses have stopped commemorating His Holiness Patriarch Kirill in the Divine services in response to his statements about the invasion of Ukraine. Some dioceses have even called upon His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine to convene the Ukrainian Synod to being the process of requesting autocephaly for the Ukrainian Church.
Recalling how the Ukrainian Church has always defended itself against pressure to follow a non-canonical path, His Eminence states: “All ecclesiastical issues should be considered and resolved exclusively within the framework of the canons and the conciliar mind. And all this should be done not under the roar of explosions, but in the peace of Christ and prayer. Emotions aren’t the best adviser for solving any issues.”
His Eminence Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye made a similar call, as reported on yesterday.
Met. Anthony’s statement reads in full:
The Holy Fathers remind us that it’s not difficult to distinguish deeds pleasing to God from those that the enemy of the human race pushes us to.
If the fruits of our deeds are peace, love and unity, then they are pleasing to God. And if certain actions lead to enmity and confrontation, then they are from the devil.
The horror of war divides people into two camps. Some begin to look inside themselves and repent, and as a result find God, while others, on the contrary, become increasingly embittered and kindle anger and hatred in their soul, and thereby, unfortunately, move away from the Almighty.
I appeal to the clergy of our Church. Dear fathers, we stood up and defended our Church when they wanted to force it to follow a non-canonical path. We are all the canonical Church of Christ, the Church of Confessors and Martyrs, for which we are revered throughout the Orthodox world. We must make this choice in this difficult and terrible time. Do not give in to provocations! All ecclesiastical issues should be considered and resolved exclusively within the framework of the canons and the conciliar mind.
And all this should be done not under the roar of explosions, but in the peace of Christ and prayer. Emotions aren’t the best adviser for solving any issues.
We have something to be doing today. We must focus all our efforts and capabilities on our pastoral ministry and comprehensive assistance to all those who need it. And there are hundreds and thousands of them.
Let us remain faithful children of the Church of Christ—the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, loyal to our Primate—His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry.
God bless everyone!
Patriarch Kirill himself has also issued a resolution in response to His Eminence Metropolitan Evlogy of Sumy, who was perhaps the first bishop to publicly announce that his diocese was no longer commemorating Pat. Kirill and who has been collecting and publishing similar statements from other dioceses:
I regret your decision to stop commemorating the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia at the Divine services. I would like to the offer the example of Archpriest Gregory Prokhorov, who never stopped commemorating the name of Metropolitan Sergius, celebrating the Divine services in the only church of the MP in Berlin during the war until 1942, i.e. until his arrest and death.
Ceasing to commemorate the primate of the Church, not because of doctrinal or canonical errors or aberrations, but because of a discrepancy with certain political views and preferences, is a schism, which everyone who commits it will answer for before God, and not only in the future age, but also in the present.
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