"RETURN TO UPTsKP AND ATTEMPT TO CHANGE PTsU CHARTER IS
RISK OF
LOSING TOMOS"—METROPOLITAN EPIFANY
In light of recent events within the PTsU connected with
rumors that
Honorary Patriarch Filaret wants to convene a local council in
early summer in
order to change the PTsU charter and return patriarchal status
to himself, the
head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (PTsU), Metropolitan
Epifany, gave an
interview to Levyi Bereg. The metropolitan maintains that on his
part he is
doing everything possible so that there will be good relations
between Honorary
Patriarch Filaret and himself, and he adds that it is now
inappropriate to talk
about changes in the PTsU charter.
"Indeed the opinions are being expressed to the effect
that a
council will be convened for changes in the charter, but these
do not
correspond to reality, inasmuch as the right to convene a
council belongs to
the primate, the Holy Synod, or the Bishops' Council. Only a
local council has
the right to change the charter. And in order to convene it, it
is necessary to
go through the specified procedure. The mechanism is the
following: the primate
make the suggestion to the Holy Synod; if the synod supports it,
then the Bishops'
Council considers it next and issues certain prepared questions
for
consideration by the local council. Therefore it is
inappropriate to talk now
about changes of the charter. Why? We received the tomos, and
the charter was
adopted at the unification council, by which it is now guided
and which was
legally approved by the state. It is obvious that, with the
passage of time, in
the future, certain changes will be introduced into the charter
and some things
will be delineated in more detail—which have not yet been
finalized—about the
life of parishes, monasteries, and dioceses. This does not
contradict in
general what is prescribed in the tomos and any fundamental
changes are not
foreseen," Metropolitan Epifany notes.
Metropolitan Epifany says that changes that contradict
the tomos—for
example, rotation of members of the synod and return of the Kiev
patriarchate—are dangerous, because "we might lose our
ecclesiastical
independence, which is clearly prescribed in the document having
the title of
'tomos.'"
Metropolitan Epifany notes that there is now no need for
a local
council. The Bishops' Council should be convened annually, and a
local council
will be convened only in the case of real necessity.
"We are not refusing to hold local councils. They will
be held
regularly in the future, since it is necessary for the life of
the local
Orthodox church. But at the present time we do not see such a
need. Legal
mechanisms for holding a local council without the consent of
the primate,
without the Holy Synod and the Bishops' Council, do not exist.
Otherwise this
would mean schism.
"We are legally within the united Orthodox church and we
should be
guided by that charter that was adopted at the unification
council and which
was confirmed by the tomos, which was legally registered by
order of the
Ministry of Culture. The tomos and charter are inextricable
connected with one
another. If changes were introduced into the charter, which
contradict the
norms of the tomos, it might be halted or withdrawn. That is a
risk! That is
the path to nowhere and a return to isolation. Moreover, whereas
earlier there
was a confrontation with the Moscow patriarchate and we placed
our hope on the
ecumenical patriarch and appealed to him for help and appealed
for considering
the bans of Moscow to be invalidated, then if we take the path
of return to the
past, we will be in conflict with the ecumenical patriarchate.
Then there would
be division within the church itself, because I am sure that not
everyone will
want to destroy what was built by such efforts. There will be
confrontation,
isolation, disillusionment, and distress in society. All this
will have
disastrous consequences for the church and for Ukraine, as we
saw in the past
in our history when divisions occurred. This should be prevented
and not
permitted. In communicating with bishops, I see unanimity in the
path we are
taking, which is leading us to development. If we talk about a
return, nobody
will agree with this," the metropolitan noted.
We add that the ecumenical patriarchate does not deny that in the future the Ukrainian church will have the status of a patriarchate. But first it is necessary to unite the Orthodox of Ukraine around the Kievan see, that is, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. (tr. by PDS, posted 10 May 2019)
Editorial disclaimer: RRN does
not intend to certify the accuracy of information
presented in articles. RRN simply intends to certify the
accuracy of the English translation of the contents of the
articles as they appeared in news media of countries of
the former USSR.
If material is quoted, please give credit to the
publication from which it came. It is not necessary to credit
this Web page. If material is transmitted electronically, please
include reference to the URL,
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.