Kiev, May 21, 2025
Photo: rbk.ru
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church held a roundtable yesterday, May 20, on the topic of “Conciliarity in the Life of the Orthodox Church: From the Council of Antiquity to the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Theophania.”
Following his opening greeting, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, the primate of the canonical UOC, offered an address on the occasion of the third anniversary of the UOC Local Council that was held at St. Panteleimon Monastery in the Theophania District of Kiev on May 27, 2022.
After the start of the war that February, Met. Onuphry recalls, numerous individual parishes and some entire dioceses of the UOC refused to commemorate His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in the divine services, given his support for the war. Against this background, the UOC Holy Synod convened a Local Council (which provides for the participation of all hierarchs, as well as clerical, monastic, and lay delegates) to discuss the life of the Church in wartime.
As Met. Onuphry recounts, the vast majority of council delegates advocated for the UOC’s complete departure from the Moscow Patriarchate, and its governing statutes were amended accordingly. “The Council introduced a number of fundamental changes to the Statute on administration, which testified to the complete canonical independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its unambiguous disassociation from the Moscow Patriarchate.”
“Thus, the Council, which took place 3 years ago at the Theophania monastery, fundamentally changed the life of our Church,” the UOC primate affirms.
His Beatitude emphasizes the conciliar nature of this decision: “In 2022, after the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, our holy Church faced complex challenges, the resolution of which was possible only with the help of the conciliar Church mind. And we followed the path of conciliarity.”
His Beatitude lists the specific changes that characterize the UOC’s independence, adding: “We hope that the entire family of autocephalous Local Churches will morally support us, approve our canonical independence, and mark it with an appropriate distinction.”
At the same time, from the Russian Church’s point of view, it must follow its own statutes, which dictate that only a Local Council of the ROC can change the canonical status of a Church body within the Moscow Patriarchate. Thus, the ROC, which last held a Local Council in 2009, does not recognize the independence of the UOC. The Ukrainian state follows the ROC’s lead on this matter, and on this basis is working to entirely shut down the UOC.
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Read Met. Onuphry’s complete address:
Christ is risen!
I sincerely greet everyone with the great feast of the Bright Resurrection of Christ, through which Christ, our Savior and Lord, “trampl[ed] down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestow[ed] life” (Paschal troparion).
In these blessed Paschal days, we commemorate the third anniversary of the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which took place in Kiev, at the St. Panteleimon Monastery in Theophania.
In 2022, after the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, our holy Church faced complex challenges, the resolution of which was possible only with the help of the conciliar Church mind. And we followed the path of conciliarity.
On May 27, 2022, in Kiev, at the St. Panteleimon Monastery (Theophania), the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was held, which adopted a number of important decisions.
Unfortunately, after the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow completely sided with the Russian political leadership, consistently justifying military aggression against Ukraine. Therefore, already in the first weeks of the war, numerous priests of our Church began to express their disagreement with the words and actions of Patriarch Kirill. Both individual parishes and entire dioceses in different regions of Ukraine began to refuse to commemorate the name of the Patriarch of Moscow during the divine services. In this situation, the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church decided to convene in Kiev a gathering of bishops, priests, monks, and laity to discuss the life of our Church in wartime conditions.
This gathering began its work on the morning of May 27, 2022, at the Theophania monastery. Bishops, priests, monks, and laity from all dioceses of our Church participated (in person or remotely). Thus, this gathering had a sufficient quorum to become a full-fledged Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. When it became evident that the idea of immediately holding a Council was supported by virtually all participants of the gathering, it was decided on the same day to first hold a meeting of the Holy Synod and the Council of Bishops, and then the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the participation of bishops, priests, monks, and laity, according to the adopted regulations.
This Great Council began its work in the afternoon of May 27. The vast majority of the Council delegates advocated for the complete separation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Moscow Patriarchate. That is why the Council introduced a number of fundamental changes to the Statute on administration, which testified to the complete canonical independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its unambiguous disassociation from the Moscow Patriarchate. All points about the connection of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the Russian Orthodox Church were removed from the statutes. In particular, the decrees of the ROC are no longer the basis for the activities of our Church. The primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is elected for life by the episcopate of our Church and does not need to receive a blessing for his ministry from the Patriarch of Moscow. The Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine has ceased his membership in the Holy Synod of the ROC. The name of the Patriarch of Moscow is no longer commemorated during divine services in the churches and monasteries of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The Council unequivocally condemned the Russian military aggression against Ukraine and expressed disagreement with the position of Patriarch Kirill regarding this war. The Council also declared its intention to restore the rite of Chrism-making in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In addition, the delegates of the Council spoke in favor of developing the mission of our Church abroad among Orthodox Ukrainians who, as a result of the war, found themselves outside their homeland, in order to preserve their faith, culture, language, and Orthodox identity.
Thus, the Council, which took place 3 years ago at the Theophania monastery, fundamentally changed the life of our Church. After May 27, 2022, we are no longer part of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Council clearly stated the desire of our Church for full canonical independence. And at the moment, we already have all the attributes of such independence. Our Church independently resolves all issues of its internal and external life: It opens new dioceses, elects bishops and the primate without interference from other Local Churches, independently produces holy Chrism for its own needs, and opens parishes abroad.
We hope that the entire family of autocephalous Local Churches will morally support us, approve our canonical independence, and mark it with an appropriate distinction.
Sacred history testifies that Church Councils that uphold and defend the purity of faith and Christian morality are guided by the grace of the Holy Spirit, Who guides us into all truth (Jn. 16:13), and we are comforted that in these difficult times, when Ukraine is going through one of the most difficult periods in its history, the Lord does not abandon us, but continues to lead us to His Kingdom.
And today, as we celebrate the third anniversary of the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, I call on everyone to intensify prayer for our homeland Ukraine, for its people, and for our soldiers who defend their native land at the cost of their own lives. I also call on everyone to pray for our Church, that the Lord may support us in the time of these difficult trials, help us understand what is the will of God, good, acceptable, and perfect (Romans 12:2), and provide the strength to fulfill His will in our lives.
I invoke God’s blessing upon all of us.
† ONUPHRY
METROPOLITAN OF KIEV AND ALL UKRAINE
PRIMATE OF THE UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
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