UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX BISHOPS OF USA AND CANADA APPEAL TO BARTHOLOMEW ABOUT OVERCOMING CHURCH SPLIT IN UKRAINE
After returning from Ukraine following a seven-day visit, which included honoring the first anniversary of the memory of the fallen heroes of the Celestial Century (18-20 February 2014) the hierarchs of the Standing Conference of Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops Outside of Ukraine conducted a meeting from 2 to 4 March 2015 in Clearwater, Florida.
The meeting was initiated by the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA and ruling bishop of the Eastern Diocese, Metropolitan Antony, and the head of the consistory of UOCUSA and ruling bishop of the Western Diocese, Bishop Daniil.
Also participating in the meeting were the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada and ruling bishop of the Central diocese of the UOCC, Metropolitan Yury, the ruling bishop of the Western Diocese of UOCC, Bishop Ilarion, and the ruling bishop of the Eastern Diocese of UOCC, Bishop Andrei.
A report of the Department for External Relations of UOCUSA states that the bishops discussed the political, economic, and religious difficulties existing in Ukraine, the Middle East, and in other countries, where Ukrainian Orthodox Christians live outside the boundaries of their historic motherland. "The masters declared that they support a special bond with their brothers and sisters in Ukraine, and especially with the clergy who continue to lead their faithful and are concerned about them in the most difficult circumstances," the report says.
They also talked about the meeting in Ukraine with primates of various Ukrainian Orthodox churches. The bishops of UOC in the USA and Canada expressed concern "with respect to the long-lasting church division in Ukraine at a time when the nation is under attack," and they called hierarchs of various Orthodox jurisdictions in Ukraine "to come to unity and healing of the wounded body of Christ, the church."
"Once again history is giving us the possibility for uniting into a single Christian family in the name of the Savior, setting aside all disagreements. We cannot neglect this possibility, in contrast to all previous ones," the masters of America emphasize. Hierarchs of the Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops Outside Ukraine prepared an appeal to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in which they speak about the circumstances of church division in Ukraine and possible paths to resolving this conflict.
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