FOUR BISHOPS OF CYPRIOT ARCHBISHOPRIC DO NOT AGREE WITH RECOGNITION OF ORTHODOX CHURCH OF UKRAINE
Four hierarchs of the Cypriot archbishopric issued on 24 October a categorical condemnation of the act of their own primate, Archbishop Chrysostomos, who during the liturgy on that day for the first time commemorated Metropolitan Epifany among the primates of local churches. This was reported by the Credo.Press portal.
The statement was signed by Metropolitan of Limassol Athanasios, Metropolitan of Kykkos Nikiphoros, Metropolitan of Tamassos and Oreini Isaias, and Bishop of Amathus Nikolaos, the Telegram channel Eastern Church reports. The document notes that the question "of recognition of the Ukrainian schism" had been announced by the archbishop for discussion at the last session of the Synod of the Church of Cyprus, but the Synod decided to postpone discussion of the question to the next session so that the issue would be studied thoroughly.
The authors of the statement consider that recognition of the autocephaly of the PTsU by the ecumenical patriarch "introduced division into the family of Orthodox churches," and they continue to call Onufry the "canonical metropolitan of Kiev." The grant of autocephaly they call an "anticanonical and antichurch action" inasmuch as they consider the Ukrainian church as if it "is included within the canonical jurisdiction of the Russian church." (tr. by PDS, posted 25 October 2020)
FOUR HIERARCHS OF CYPRIOT CHURCH CALL FOR ANNULMENT OF DECISION ON RECOGNIZING P.Ts.U.
Rossiiskaia Gazeta, 25 October 2020
Four hierarchs of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus accused Archbishop Chrysostomos, head of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, of "blatant violation" of the synodal system because of the commemoration of Epifany as head of the autocephalous Ukrainian church. They urge annulment of the "anticanonical and invalid action."
The head of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, Archbishop Chrysostomos, for the first time, commemorated the Ukrainian religious leader Epifany as the primate of the Ukrainian church. Thereby he de facto recognized the schismatic structure he heads, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (PTsU).
The four hierarchs-- Metropolitan of Limassol Athanasios, Metropolitan of Kykkos Nikiphoros, Metropolitan of Tamassos and Oreini Isaias, and Bishop of Amathus Nikolaos—in a joint statement urged Chrysostomos to immediately cancel the anticanonical act.
The hierarchs declared that "the actions of the archbishop represent a blatant violation of the synodal, collective, and democratic structure of our Orthodox church and the functioning of the Orthodox Church of Cypus on that basis."
At the same time, the head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow patriarchate, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk Ilarion, noted with respect to a statement by the head of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, Archbishop Chrysostomos, who for the first time commemorated the Ukrainian religious leader Epifany as the primate of the Ukrainian church, that "a decision will be made by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church."
"However, I suspect," said Metropolitan of Volokolamsk Ilarion, "that the archbishop of Cyprus will be deleted from the diptychs of the Russian Orthodox Church; that is, his commemoration in the divine service will be eliminated until all circumstances of what happened are cleared up. This means the cessation of Eucharistic fellowship with a specific person, not with the Cypriot church as such."
The official website of the patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church (RPTs) reports that the Holy Synod of the RPTs will, in the near future, react to the commemoration in the Divine Liturgy of the name of the head of the Ukrainian schismatic PTsU, for which the RPTs does not recognize canonical status, by the primate of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, Archbishop of all-Cyprus Chrysostomos II. (tr. by PDS, posted 25 October 2020)
FOUR OUT OF EIGHTEEN
PTsU comments on "anti-Ukrainian" statement of Cypriot hierarchs
Moscow and its satellites will now distribute the "statement" of four hierarchs, who "categorically disagree" with the recognition of the PTsU and demand "convocation of the Synod." This was written on his Fasebook page by the spokesman of the PTsU, Archbishop Evstraty.
"Each person can calculate what 4 out of 18 constitutes and draw a conclusion whether these four hierarchs will be able to achieve the priority of their (more precisely, pro-Moscow) position.
"And it also should be kept in mind that obviously the archbishop of Cyprus knows well the internal alignments in his own church, and thus he never would have taken today's step if he were not certain that he can count on here the support of the overwhelming majority," the bishop noted.
"My position, first of all, serves Orthodoxy, and then the Church of Cyprus," Archbishop Chrysostomos noted in a commentary for the news agency. He also is confident that all primates, with the exception of Kirill, recognize that he is right. "My position serves not individual persons but the church," the PTsU spokesman recalled the words of the archbishop of the Church of Cyprus.
Archbishop Evstraty noted that the primate of the Cypriot church promised to convene a session of the Synod if it were requested in accordance with the church's bylaws. At such a session, the text of a letter should be reviewed, by which the archbishop plans to inform the ecumenical patriarch about the decision and the actions that occurred.
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