UPTsMP COMMENTS ON RESPONSE OF CONSTANTINOPLE TO KIEV'S APPEAL
The synod of the ecumenical patriarchate, in declaring its readiness to consider the appeal of the political leadership of Ukraine relative to the creation of an autocephalous church in the country, did not take into account the position of millions of believers of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UPTsMP), a statement of the Department of Information and Enlightenment of the UPTsMP, that was distributed on Monday, says.
On Sunday, the ecumenical patriarchate accepted the request for granting autocephaly on the part of "political and ecclesiastical persons," representing "many millions of Orthodox Ukrainians," and it decided "to have close communication with other fraternal Orthodox churches for information and agreement." A translation of the document was posted on the official website of the UPTsMP.
"The mention in the text of the communiqué about millions of Orthodox Ukrainians in whose name representatives of the UPTsKP and UAPTs [the "Kiev patriarchate" and the "Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which are not recognized by world Orthodoxy—ed.] supposedly were acting does not reflect the position of millions of believers, who are represented by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is the largest religious association in Ukraine," the statement says.
The UPTs supposes that in the near future, visits will begin by representatives of the Constantinople patriarchate to other local churches for consultations.
"We recall that not one of these churches
recognizes
the UPTsKP and UAPTs as canonical churches, nor concelebrates with
them, and
thus if one is talking about Ukrainian autocephaly, then this
question cannot
be considered without the participation of the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church as the
only canonical church of Ukraine," the document emphasizes. (tr.
by PDS,
posted 23 April 2018)
UPTsMP DRAWS OWN CONCLUSIONS ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE COMMUNIQUE
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UPTsMP) published the comments of the Department for External Church Relations of the UPTs regarding the decision of the Holy Synod of the Constantinople patriarchate about accepting for consideration the matter of granting autocephaly to the Orthodox church in Ukraine.
On 22 April, a press release was posted on the official website of the ecumenical patriarchate regarding the conclusion of a session of the Holy and Sacred Synod. Since the original language in which official communications of the patriarchate are written is Greek, and also because a translation into English does not convey all the precision of the Greek original, we are giving the aforesaid press release in the [Russian] translation by the OVTsSUPTs from the Greek language:
"The session of the Holy and Sacred Synod, which assembled under the chairmanship of His Divine Holiness in regular session on Thursday, 19 April, and Friday, 20 April, has concluded, during which all items indicated on the agenda were considered and appropriate decisions were made.
The ecumenical patriarchate, which according to the divine and sacred canons and long-standing church procedures and Holy Tradition is concerned for all Orthodox churches throughout the world and bears responsibility for pan-Orthodox unity, especially with respect to the Orthodox Ukrainian people who received the saving Christian faith and holy baptism from Constantinople, which is their true Mother-Church, dealt in detail with the topic of the ecclesiastical situation in Ukraine, which it also has done in previous synod sessions, and accepted the request for granting autocephaly on the part of political and ecclesiastical persons [alternative translation: political and ecclesiastical factors (or figures)—tr. note], who represent many millions of Orthodox Ukrainians, and it decided to have close communication with other fraternal Orthodox churches for information and agreement.
In the patriarchate, 22 April 2018"
With regard to the Constantinople communiqué, the UPTsMP drew the following conclusions:
1. Inasmuch as the Constantinople patriarchate, not only in this text but also in its many other official texts, emphasizes that it positions itself as the church that bears "responsibility for pan-Orthodox unity," this means that the ecumenical patriarchate will not take steps that would damage such unity.
2. The Constantinople patriarchate makes clear that consideration of this matter will proceed in close communication with all other local Orthodox churches in the world and in agreement with the aforesaid churches. This point is self-evident, since any new, possibly autocephalous, church must be accepted into prayer and Eucharistic fellowship by all local Orthodox churches. Therefore there is reason to think that in the near future there may begin visits by representatives of the Constantinople patriarchate to local Orthodox churches.
3. We recall that not one of these churches recognizes the UPTsKP and UAPTs as canonical churches and nor concelebrates with them. And thus if there is to be talk about Ukrainian autocephaly, then this matter cannot be considered without the participation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as the only canonical church of Ukraine.
Mention in the text of the communiqué about millions of Orthodox Ukrainians, in whose name representatives of the UPTsKP and UAPTs supposedly are acting, does not reflect the position of millions of believers, who are represented by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the largest religious association in Ukraine. (tr. by PDS, posted 23 April 2018)
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