HEAD OF NEW
CHURCH OF UKRAINE INVITED
TO U.S.A.
RIA Novosti, 13
September 2019
The head of
the new church of Ukraine,
Epifany Dumenko, will visit the U.S.A. in October on the
invitation of the
Order of Archons of the patriarchate of Constantinople, where it
is intended to
celebrate his "contribution to the unity of Orthodoxy," a source
in
the American archdiocese told RIA Novosti. "Epifany was invited
to the
annual meeting of the archons. It will be held on 19 October
under the
chairmanship of Father Alexandros Karloutsos," the news agency's
source
said.
"Archon" is an
honorary title
given by the patriarch for various services to the church. The
Order of Archons
belongs to the ecumenical patriarch. Karloutsos is called the
"unofficial
minister of foreign affairs of the patriarchate of
Constantinople." He
maintains communication of the patriarch of Constantinople with
the archdiocese
and is closely acquainted with influential personalities from
the White House
and the Department of State, former presidents of the U.S.A.,
and prominent
figures of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches.
"Epifany will
be honored at the
meeting on 19 October for his contribution to the unity of
Orthodoxy," the
new agency's source said. He said that a very large reception
will be arranged.
He said that Archbishop of America Elpidophoros and Father
Karloutsos will
speak at the festive dinner.
"The reception
will be held in the
Hilton Hotel and there will be more than 1,000 invited guests
from all around
America," he said.
Epifany will
also celebrate the liturgy
along with Elpidophoros.
"The American
archdiocese, which
belongs to the patriarch of Constantinople, is very greatly
involved in the
Ukrainian problem," the news agency's interlocutor said.
In December
2018 in Kiev, the new
church of Ukraine was formed. This happened as the result of the
merger of two
uncanonical church structures that were operating in Ukraine.
Metropolitan
Epifany became the head of the new "autocephalous church." The
canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is headed by
Metropolitan Onufry,
refused to participate in this event. The Russian Orthodox
Church has called the
canonical significance of the gathering in Kiev negligible and
the possibility
of the recognition of Epifany by other local churches hardly a
done deal.
A commission
of the Greek Orthodox
Church spoke out against the new church of Ukraine, the
interlocutor said. Soon
even Kiev refused to recognize it, religious studies scholar
Roman Silantiev
concludes. He expressed his opinion in a broadcast of Radio
Sputnik. Soon after
this, Filaret declared that the structure headed by him is
separating from the
new church of Ukraine. In addition, at its meeting it ruled that
the
"tomos concerning autocephaly" of the new church does not
comport
with the status of autocephalous churches and thus places it in
dependence upon
Constantinople. The synod of the new church deprived Filaret of
his rights to
administer the Kiev diocese, while leaving him in the status of
a bishop.
The news
agency's source also said that
it is not likely that there will be a trip to American by
Patriarch
Bartholomew. A trip had been planned for July. Bartholomew has
not been in
America for ten years.
"Bartholomew
has an invitation
from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Bartholomew was supposed to
give a speech
on peace among religions. But the visit hung in the air. It was
postponed
several times, to May, to July, then to October. But even for
October they did
not manage to agree on a schedule for the patriarch's visit. And
there is no
money for the trip and no single metropolis wanted to
participate financially
in arranging the trip, and not because of the Ukrainian problem
but for other
reasons," the news agency's interlocutor said.
He said that
such trips of the
patriarch are very expensive. "Nothing happens without money.
Every trip
of the patriarch to the U.S.A. costs at least five million
dollars. He stays in
the best hotels, and he does not come alone. He has ten to
fifteen persons with
him and this is expensive," he explained.
"Now it is
being discussed whether
Pompeo can meet with Bartholomew during his trip to Greece.
Pompeo will be in
Athens on 6 to 8 October, in order to discuss various matters
with the Greek
government. It is being investigated whether he will meet with
Bartholomew
within the context of the trip in Thessaloniki or in Athens,"
the news
agency's interlocutor said. (tr. by PDS, posted 14 September
2019)
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