BISHOPS' COUNCIL OF UPTsKP CREATES NEW MEMBERSHIP OF HIGHER BODIES OF CHURCH ADMINISTRATION AND SUPPORTS CRIMEAN TATARS
The Bishops' Council (Sobor) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev patriarchate (UPTsKP), scheduled to coincide with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Patriarch Filaret's occupation of the Kiev see, was held on 13 May in the historic residence of the metropolitans of Kiev on the territory of the national preserve Kievan Sophia, a correspondent of Portal-Credo.ru reports.
The council approved the activity and decisions of the patriarch and Holy Synod of the KPTsKP in the inter-council period and also introduced changes into the charter of the church pertaining to the composition of the synod and the rights of the chancellor of the Kiev patriarchate (now this office is occupied by Archbishop of Vyshgorod Agapit).
At the suggestion of the patriarch, the following were elected to membership in the Supreme Church Council: Archpriests Mikhail Marusiak and Petr Landvitovich, and also Vladimir Bondarenko, Liliia Grigorovich, Alexander Gudima, Ivan Drach, Viacheslav Kirillenko, Pavel Movchan, Nikolai Porovsky, and Dmitry Stepovik.
The council adopted a statement "On several matters of the canonical position of the Kiev patriarchate and ways for overcoming church division," and an appeal to the Constantinople patriarchate for recognition of the autocephaly of a local church of Ukraine.
The bishops of the UPTsKP thanked the Ukrainian president and other officials for their assistance in the transfer of the church of Little Sophia for worship services of the Kiev patriarchate on the territory of the national preserve Kievan Sophia.
The council adopted a resolution that says: "In connection with the intensification of repressions and harassment conducted by the occupation authority in Crimea, in the name of the Kiev patriarchate to express support for the fraternal Crimean Tatar people, the Ukrainian community, and other persecuted residents of Crimea in their struggle for their own rights and resistance to the illegal actions of the Russian authorities."
The resolutions of the council are signed by 41 bishops, including 3 from Russia and one each from Crimea, Moldova, France, and Greece. (tr. by PDS, posted 14 May 2016)
DECLARATION OF
THE BISHOPS' COUNCIL
of the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church of the Kiev patriarchate
"Concerning
several issues of the canonical position of the Kiev
patriarchate and ways to
overcome church division"
In development
of views presented in the historical-canonical declaration "The
Kiev
Patriarchate is the local Ukrainian Orthodox Church" (2007), in
the
council message "On the local Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Kiev
patriarchate" (2010), and in a number of other documents in
which the view
of the Kiev patriarchate on the main reasons for the division of
the Ukrainian
church is expressed:
consistently
advocating the overcoming of the existing church division and
the formation in
Ukraine of a united local Orthodox church as autocephalous, that
is, completely
administratively independent of other church centers, with the
patriarchal
throne in Kiev;
wishing to
explain its vision on several acute issues of the canonical
situation of the
Kiev patriarchate and ways of overcoming church division;
the Bishops'
Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev
patriarchate adopts this
declaration.
1. The only
solid grounds for overcoming the existing church division and
for the formation
in Ukraine of a united local Orthodox Church are the canons and
historic
traditions of Ecumenical Orthodoxy. Only strict adherence to
these canons,
historic traditions, and precedents can bring the process of
church unification
to a successful conclusion.
Canonical
prerequisites for the existence in Ukraine of a united and
autocephalous local
Orthodox church are the uninterrupted history of more than 1,000
years of the
activity of the Orthodox church in Ukrainian lands and the
existence of a
sufficient number of bishops, priests, and laity for an
independent church
life. These conditions include the existence of a separate
Ukrainian nation
that has its own sovereign state.
Apostolic canon
#34 reads: "It befits the bishops of every nation to know the
first among
them and to recognize him as their head." The existence of the
Ukrainian
nation as distinct from other nations is obvious and therefore
the Orthodox
bishops of the Ukrainian nation should have their own first
hierarch and not be
subjected administratively to a first hierarch of bishops of
another nation.
Rule 17 of the
fourth and rule 38 of the sixth ecumenical councils say that
"let the
dispensation of church affairs follow the civil and territorial
dispensations." This means that the existence of a separate
sovereign
Ukrainian state is another one of the indisputable canonical
bases for the
administrative independence (autocephaly) of the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church.
2. It should be
noted that the canonical rules of the Orthodox church do not
specify a concrete
procedure for one or another church to acquire autocephalous
status. There is
not a single picture of this procedure among local Orthodox
churches, and
because of this the question of autocephaly and the means for
its proclamation
has been excluded from the list of topics for the work of the
upcoming
Pan-Orthodox Council.
The generally
accepted rule of law is that issues that are not regulated by
laws are decided
on the basis of precedents and customs. Therefore we are
convinced that the
proclamation of the autocephaly of the Kiev patriarchate, which
is the
conciliar will of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, does not affect
church canons.
This is the way it was for almost all local churches, like the
Kiev
patriarchate, besides the ancient eastern patriarchates, whose
autocephaly also
developed historically and was only subsequently confirmed by
the ecumenical
councils.
3. Over the
course of seven centuries, the Orthodox church in Ukraine
existed as a
metropolitanate of the Constantinople patriarchate. Gradually,
to the extent of
its own growth, this metropolitinate acquired all the broader
rights of church
independence. In the 17th century, before the illegal annexation
on the part of
the Moscow patriarchate, it independently conducted councils,
selected and
installed on the Kiev throne its own metropolitan, selected
bishops
independently, and conducted consecrations thereafter. In
effect, at that time
the Kiev metropolitanate already had all the signs of an
autocephalous church.
The only reason for the absence of formal autocephaly was that
at the time
Ukraine did not have its own political independence and its
territory was
divided among three neighboring countries.
It is an unconditionally
proven historical fact that in 1685-86, by the will of the
Moscow tsarist
government, in violation of the canons, and by means of bribery,
the Kiev
metropolitanate was virtually torn away from the Constantinople
mother church
and annexed by the Moscow patriarchate. This incident has
frequently been
declared by both the Constantinople patriarchate and the
Ukrainian church
itself to be uncanonical and null and void.
In the 20th
century, with the fall of the Russian monarchy and the
proclamation of the
independence of Ukraine, the possibility was opened of the
rejection of the
uncanonical subordination of the Ukrainian church to the Moscow
patriarchate.
However Ukraine's loss of its sovereignty and forced
incorporation into
membership in the Soviet Union and the totalitarian policy of
the atheistic
regime regarding the church made practically impossible the
independent
existence of an autocephalous church in Ukraine; it existed only
among
Ukrainians in the diaspora.
4. In the early
1990s, as a result of the weakening of pressure of the soviet
regime, the
restoration of the activity of an independent Ukrainian church
in the
motherland became possible. After the proclamation of political
independence of
Ukraine, a part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which at that
time was
dependant upon the Moscow patriarchate, at its legal council on
1-3 November
1991 unanimously adopted the decision for complete canonical
independence
(autocephaly). At a Unification Local Council on 25-26 June
1992, the Ukrainian
Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
united,
becoming the single Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev
patriarchate.
5.
Unfortunately, as the result of the conduct of the so-called
Kharkov council,
which was held in 1992 on orders from Moscow, under pressure and
control of
special services, a portion, which called itself the "Ukrainian
Orthodox
Church," seceded from the unity of the Orthodox Church in
Ukraine.
This so-called
council made its decision under external coercion, in gross and
cynical
violation of the canons and the charter of the UPTs. The
religious
organization, which was de facto newly formed at it, although it
usurped the
name "Ukrainian Orthodox Church," is not in essence Ukrainian
but
subordinate to Moscow and is not a church, because it does not
have the
canonically established status of autocephaly or autonomy. In
reality it is an
association of structures of the Moscow patriarchate, that is,
the Russian
Orthodox Church operating in Ukraine.
On the other
hand, as a result of external influences, including those from
Moscow, some
bishops, priests and laity seceded from the unity of the
Orthodox church in
Ukraine in 1992-1993 and created an unauthorized grouping which
acquired for
itself the name of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.
It also should
be noted that there is also a number of other small religious
organizations
operating in our state that adhere to the Orthodox religious
confession.
However they are not as widespread as the two aforesaid and
therefore their
position is not mentioned in this statement.
6. Thus in our
state now there is one really Ukrainian Orthodox Church
operating and it is the
Kiev patriarchate, which is the canonical and historical
successor of the
ancient Orthodox Kiev metropolitanate of the Constantinople
patriarchate that
existed until 1686. The Kiev patriarchate also is the true
successor of the
Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church that operated in Ukraine
in various
formations in the years from 1919 to 1992, as well as the
Ukrainian Orthodox
Church which for reasons of external necessity was subject to
the Moscow
patriarchate, but at its council of 1 to 3 November 1991 made
the decision for
complete autocephaly.
The religious
organization that calls itself the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is
a noncanonical
artifact of the Moscow patriarchate in Ukraine, the fruit of the
self-professed
Kharkov pseudo-council of 1992 and the special services that
organized and
conducted it.
Religious
societies in Ukraine that separated from the Kiev patriarchate
in 1992-1993 and
adopted for themselves the name "Ukrainian Autocephalous
Orthodox
Church" are a noncanonical formation and they fall under the
definition of
"unauthorized assembly" according to the first rule of the holy
prelate Basil the Great.
All of this
however does not in any wise mean that amidst the aforesaid
religious
organizations there are not bishops, priests, and laity who
really yearn for
the development of Orthodoxy in Ukraine and desire to overcome
the existing
church division and to form in Ukraine a united autocephalous
local Orthodox
church. On the contrary, we are convinced that a substantial
number of bishops,
more than half of the priests, and the overwhelming majority of
Orthodox laity,
who are still not united with the Kiev patriarchate, really are
interested in
church unification.
Unfortunately
they are temporarily restrained from fellowship with us by the
position of
their own church leaderships, deceptive propaganda, and fear of
punishment or
other such circumstances. We hope that they all will find within
themselves the
strength to overcome these obstacles, and our fraternal embrace
is always open
to them.
7. Despite the
gross canonical violations committed in the formation in
1992-1993 of religious
organizations under the names of Ukrainian Orthodox Church and
Ukrainian
Autocephalous Orthodox Church, on the whole, Orthodox doctrine
has not been
lost within them and the reality of the sacraments they perform
has not been
violated. Therefore the Kiev patriarchate considers that the
current situation
now in the Orthodox church of Ukraine is a tragic division that
needs to be
overcome. Therefore we once again call the bishops, priests, and
laity who
adhere to both of the aforementioned communities to the
restoration of church
unity with the Kiev patriarchate as the true local Ukrainian
Orthodox church
under the omophorion of the only canonically elected primate,
Patriarch of Kiev
and all-Rus-Ukraine Filaret.
And we call our
all-Ukrainian flock to patient work in explaining to brothers
and sisters the
truth about the Kiev patriarchate, and we warn against
aggression or other
actions that inflame hostility and delay the achievement of
unity.
8. The
uncanonical and illegal intervention of the Moscow patriarchate
in the life of
the Ukrainian church, which has occurred since the 17th century
and up to the
present, must be finally stopped. This is encouraged by the
eighth rule of the
third ecumenical council, which condemned the attempt of the
Antioch church to
intervene in the life of the Cypriot church and to subject it to
its authority:
"Let it be maintained that throughout the dioceses no one of the
pious
bishops extends his authority to another diocese that previously
was not under
his or his predecessors' hand, but if any one has
violently taken and subjected some diocese, he shall return it
so that the
rules of the holy fathers will not be violated; let not the
arrogance of
secular authority be advanced under the guise of sacred office.
And so that
there not be gradual and unnoticed loss of the liberty which Our
Lord Jesus
Christ, the Deliverer of all people, has given us by his own
Blood. Wherefore
this holy and ecumenical council has decreed that every diocese
maintain the
purity and without harassment the rights belonging to it from
the beginning and
which have long been established. . . . If anyone proposes a
resolution
contrary to what is here determined and decreed by this holy and
ecumenical
council, may it be null and void."
9. Having a basis in this and other
previously
mentioned rules and proceeding from the conciliar decisions of
the Ukrainian
church and taking into account numerous prior historical
precedents, the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev patriarchate considers and
determines
itself to be the genuine and fully canonical local Orthodox
church in Ukraine.
Rejecting any encroachments of the Moscow patriarchate of a
special role or
authority regarding the Ukrainian church, the Kiev patriarchate
recognizes only
the Constantinople patriarchate as its mother church, and it
awaits from it
recognition of the historically established and canonically
based autocephaly
of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The models for such recognition are
the local
churches that previously were within the Constantinople
patriarchate but now
are autocephalous: the Bulgarian, Serbian, Greek, Romanian,
Albanian, Czech,
Slovak, and especially the Polish Orthodox churches. The Polish
church has its
roots in the Kiev metropolitanate and on that basis it received
recognition of
its own autocephaly from the ecumenical patriarch in 1924.
10. As regards the status of a
patriarchate for the
Ukrainian church, we consider that it is just such a status for
our local
church that is absolutely justified, historically based, and
pastorally justified.
After all, it has one of the largest number of believers,
clergy, and bishops
among the other Orthodox churches, it has historical roots in
the preaching of
the holy apostle Andrew the First-called, and in external
conditions and
internal capacities it in no way lags behind the Bulgarian,
Georgian, Russian,
Romanian, and Serbian patriarchates.
However, taking into account all
circumstances, our
church is ready, if it is required, to postpone for a time our
request for
recognition of the dignity of a patriarchate, keeping this name
within its own
limits and for internal consumption.
11. We do not see any impediments to
church
unification in the fact that now hierarchs of the Kiev
patriarchate and
hierarchs of other Orthodox jurisdictions receive identical
titles and operate
in the same administrative territory. Actually according to
canonical rules
there should be only one bishop in a single city. The purpose of
this is to
avoid dual subordination of religious parishes and clerics, who
should have
only one ruling bishop.
But contemporary practice shows that
the majority
of local [i.e., national—tr.] churches adhere not so much to the
letter as to
the spirit of this rule, especially in the diaspora.
Now each bishop—both of the Kiev
patriarchate and
of the two other Orthodox jurisdictions—has respective parishes
in his
administration so as to not have one parish subordinate to two
bishops. The
Savior teaches us: "The Sabbath is for man and not man for the
Sabbath" (Mk. 2.27). We consider that for the achievement of
unity and
maintenance of church peace even after unification each bishop
will
subsequently head the diocese which will comprise the same
parishes which
hitherto were subordinate to him and will retain the title he
had at the time
of unification. And in the future, over the course of several
decades, an
ordinary gradual process of church life will lead to a
rectification of
territorial boundaries of dioceses in accordance with the
traditional canonical
procedure.
12. We conclude with regret that the
sincere
attempts of our church over the course of the past two years to
revive a
dialogue over unification with the leaders of the other two
Orthodox
jurisdictions have not been crowned with success. These newly
elected leaders
have completely refused to conduct a constructive dialogue with
the UPTsKP,
taking a path of self-isolation and increasing hostility against
the Kiev
patriarchate.
Despite such a
position of the current leaders of said religious organizations,
we are sure
that the achievement of the goal—the formation in Ukraine of a
united Orthodox
church—is inevitable and imminent. Because only the path of
unity and
autocephaly for the UPTs is canonically correct, pastorally
appropriate, and
historically proper. And with God's help, by the efforts of all
Orthodox
bishops, clergy, and laity in Ukraine who are interested in the
development of
Orthodoxy in our country and with the blessing of the mother
church of
Constantinople, this path will be successfully taken.
The Bishops'
Council of the Kiev patriarchate calls the whole Ukrainian flock
and all who
care for the fate of Ukrainian Orthodoxy to pray for church
unity and to work
together for its rapid achievement. May the Risen Lord bless
this good work and
crown it with success in the near future.
(tr. by PDS, posted 15 May 2016)
Ukrainian
original posted on website
of UPTsKP, 13 May 2016
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