UPTsMP PREPARED TO PROVE IN COURT ITS CORRECTNESS IN DISPUTE ABOUT CHANGE OF STATUS OF CRIMEAN DIOCESES
A number of experts and news media have accused UPTsMP of state treason after publication in early March of a new charter of its Simferopol diocese. According to a report of the Internet publication Theological Thought in Ukraine, the UPTsMP calls such accusations a lie and it is preparing a lawsuit against the publications and persons spreading accusations against the leadership of the church.
After the annexation of Crimea, there were three dioceses of UPTsMP on the territory that Ukraine considered occupied. "Today all religious organizations that are located on the peninsula—Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, Greek Catholic, and representatives of the Kiev patriarchate—all have submitted documents for reregistration in accordance with regulations that are now in effect on the peninsula," the head of the Information Department of UPTsMP, Bishop of Irpen Kliment, stated.
In June and December of last year the synod of UPTsMP was forced to introduce changes into the charters of two Crimean dioceses. "The charters were reregistered, new identification codes were assigned to them, and changes in the locations of a religious organization were possibly made, but those matters about which they are talking, that supposedly they transferred property or subordination of the diocese, did not exist," the head of the Legal Department of UPTsMP, Archpriest Alexander Bakhov, explained.
"At the present time, the Crimean dioceses are just about the only examples of administrative subordination of the Crimean peninsula to mainland Ukraine. Religious administration, personnel issues, and property questions are resolved exclusively by the Holy Synod of UPTs by the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kiev," Bishop Kliment maintains.
"This is an internal church struggle. It seems
to me that there are two forces who are conducting an information
campaign against UPTs. These are the party of the minority, that
lost the elections last summer, when there were 9 bishops. The
second is the UPTsKP, which is hoping to win over to its side
believers on a wave of discrediting of the UPTsMP," thinks Yury
Chernomorets, a famous theologian of the UPTsMP, (tr. by PDS,
posted 11 March 2015)
UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH CONTINUES TO RULE CRIMEAN DIOCESES
Interfax-Religiia, 11 March 2015
The Simferopol and Crimea diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church of the Moscow patriarchate (UPTsMP) registered a new
charter in the
Russian Ministry of Justice and its status remained unchanged.
"The Simferopol and Crimea diocese remains a part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. As before, it is subordinate to the synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church led by the metropolitan of Kiev and all-Ukraine," a commentary of the legal service of the Moscow patriarchate, which was published Wednesday on the website of the Russian church, says.
It notes that authorizations of the administrative bodies of the diocese in Crimea (ruling bishop, diocesan meetings, diocesan council) are defined not only by its charter but by the charter concerning administration of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which retains its validity in Crimea.
The patriarchate reported that on 24 December 2014, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian federation registered the final text of the charter of the Crimea diocese, which took into account the fact that UPTs is a self-administered part of the Moscow patriarchate.
"Claims that the registered charter of the Simferopol and Crimea diocese supposedly contains a provision for transfer of diocesan property to the ownership of the Russian Orthodox Church and the ownership of the diocese's property by the latter are, in essence, provocative and they do not correspond to reality," the document says.
Reports about the authorizations of the synod of the Russian church confirming the procedure for use and disposal of immovable property and especially valuable movable property of the diocese and its canonical subdivisions, and about the obligation of the diocese to provide financial means for the needs of the Russian church as determined by order of its synod, and about the right of the patriarch's veto of decisions of the diocesan assembly are also false. (tr. by PDS, posted 11 March 2015)
DOCUMENT: COMMENTARY OF LEGAL SERVICE OF MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE IN CONNECTION WITH QUESTION OF REGISTRATION OF SIMFEROPOL DIOCESE
Taking into account changing realities in 2014, the dioceses of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church located in Crimea have prepared new versions of their charters because of the necessity of their reregistration, which, according to the requirements of the authorities, extend to all legal entities, including religious organizations.
In June 2014 a new edition of the charter of the Simferopol diocese was approved by the synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, after which the document was sent to the registering bodies, with whom, however, questions arose in connection with the fact that individual provisions of the charter did not comport fully with the requirements of Russian legislation.
One of the intermediate working versions of the charter came into the possession of journalists. The final text, which was recognized by state bodies as comporting with the requirements of Russian law, was registered on 24 December 2014 by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian federation. Claims that the registered charter of the Simferopol and Crimea diocese contained the following provisions do not correspond to reality and are, in essence, provocational:
--about the transfer of property to the account of the Russian Orthodox Church and that the diocese's property belongs to the RPTs;
--about the authorization of the synod of the Russian Orthodox Church for confirming the procedure for the use and disposal of immoveable and especially valuable moveable property of the diocese and its canonical subdivisions;
--about the obligation of the diocese to send money for the needs of the Russian Orthodox Church in the amount established by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church;
--about the patriarch's right of veto on decisions of the diocesan assembly;
--about the patriarch's approval of forms, stamp, and seal of the diocese.
This list of provisions, which in reality are absent from the registered charter, could be extended.
The Simferopol and Crimea diocese remains a part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. As previously, they are subordinate to the synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church led by the metropolitan of Kiev and all-Ukraine.
The authorizations of the leading bodies of the diocese—ruling bishop, diocesan assembly, diocesan council—are defined not only by the charter of the diocese but also by the charter on the administration of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which remains in effect on the territory of the dioceses in Crimea.
The registered edition of the charter takes into account the fact that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is a self-administering part of the Moscow patriarchate and canonically a part of the Russian Orthodox Church. (tr. by PDS, posted 12 March 2015)
Russian original published on site of Portal-credo.ru, 11 March 2015
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