BREAKING: GREEK ORTHODOX
CHURCH
RECOGNIZES AUTOCEPHALY OF ORTHODOX CHURCH OF UKRAINE
At an extraordinary
session on 12
October, the Council of the Greek Orthodox Church recognized the
autocephaly of
the PTsU [Orthodox Church of Ukraine]. The decision was adopted
under the
chairmanship of the head of the Council and primate of the
church of Greece,
His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos. This is a historic decision
for the
Orthodox Church of Ukraine. One of the largest Orthodox churches
of the world
officially confirmed the legality of the actions of Ecumenical
Patriarch
Bartholomew granting autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of
Ukraine.
In the report of the
Greek publication
Romfea we read:
"During the session of
the Council,
Archbishop Ieronymos delivered a report 'Information about the
autocephalous
church of Ukraine.' He referred to the privilege of the
ecumenical patriarchate
of granting autocephaly and also to the positive recommendations
of two
committees. He suggested recognizing the autocephaly of the
church of the
independent state of Ukraine—the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
"Then the bishops made
proposals.
Bishop of Caesarea Daniel suggested adopting the decision after
a clear vote.
The hierarchy of the Greek church finally decided to ratify the
recent decision
of the Permanent Holy Synod and agreed that the ecumenical
patriarch had the
right to grant autocephaly to the PTsU."
An official announcement
of the Holy
Synod of the Greek church is expected soon.
We recall, the decision
to discuss the
Ukrainian question at an extraordinary session after the
conclusion of the
Council of the Greek Orthodox Church, which lasted from 8 to 11
October, was
made in order to observe definite procedural traditions.
As RISU has reported, the
"Ukrainian question" was already discussed preliminarily in
August by
the permanent council of the church of Greece, which received
for information
the accounts of two synodal commissions on the issue of
Ukrainian
ecclesiastical autocephaly.
The Council then
concluded that the
ecumenical patriarch has the right to proclaim the autocephaly
of local
churches (while the Russian Orthodox Church insisted that it is
necessary to do
this only with the consent of all local churches).
The council of the G.O.C.
also then
confirmed the right and privilege of Archbishop Ieronymos to
deal with the
question of recognizing the PTsU unilaterally. However we recall
that the first
hierarch of the Greek Orthodox Church decided to share the
responsibility for making
the decision with all hierarchs of the G.O.C. And this happened
today, 12
October, in Athens. Thus the PTsU has received the official
first recognition
among the Orthodox churches of the world.
The decision to recognize
the
autocephaly of the PTsU was especially important since the RPTs
and the UPTsMP
exerted great pressure. We recall that in Athens on the third
day of the
Archbishops' Council of the Greek church, representatives of the
UPTsMP arrived
and distributed to the Greek bishops books about the alleged
violent seizures
in Ukraine of churches of the UPTsMP in favor of the PTsU.
A brochure titled "The
reverse side
of the tomos" was published by the pro-Russian Union of Orthodox
Journalists. It even was translated into the Greek language. On
the cover of
the book were inscribed phrases like "The tomos brought civil
war"
and "Atheists seized the temple." (tr. by PDS, posted 12 October
2019)
METROPOLITAN EPIFANY
THANKS HEAD AND
HIERARCHS OF GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH FOR RECOGNITION OF P.Ts.U.
The primate of the
Ukrainian Orthodox
Church [PTsU], Metropolitan Epifany, expressed on his page in
Facebook thanks
to the primate of the church of Greece, His Beatitude Archbishop
Ieronymos,
and all Greek hierarchs for recognition of the autocephaly of
the PTs U.
"I am grateful to my
brother in
Christ, the head of the Holy Synod of the church of Greece, His
Beatitude
Archbishop of Athens and all-Greece Ieronymos, and to the
brother hierarchs
who today at a session of the Council of Bishops supported the
position and
followed the canonical and historical decisions of the
ecumenical patriarchate,
which opened the possibility for full-fledged cooperation
between our two local
autocephalous churches in all areas.
Our two nations, Greece
and Ukraine, are
joined by many glorious pages of history, friendship, and
cooperation. The
establishment of complete eucharistic unity and official
relations between the
local churches of Greece and Ukraine is another page that will
forever by
inscribed in our history and our hearts.
I believe that in the
near future I will
have the joy of visiting Athens, which is dear to my heart, and
to personally convey
our feelings of love and respect to His Beatitude Archbishop
Ieronymos,
brother bishops, and the entire church of Greece." (tr. by PDS,
posted 12
October 2019)
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