P.Ts.U. HIERARCHS THANK ARCHBISHOP OF ATHENS AND
ALL-GREECE FOR
RECOGNITION OF UKRAINIAN CHURCH
The Synod of the PTsU [Orthodox Church of
Ukraine], which was
held in Kiev on 29 October, expressed thanks to the head of the
Holy Synod of
the Church of Greece, Archbishop of Athens and all-Greece
Ieronymos II, and the
brother bishops who on 12 October, at as session of the Bishops'
Council
supported the decision of the ecumenical patriarchate regarding
the autocephaly
of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
This is reported on the official website of the
PTsU.
Members of the PTsU Synod noted that full
ecclesiastical
communion has been established between the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church (the
Orthodox Church of Ukraine) and the Greek Orthodox Church (the
Church of
Greece), as between autocephalous Orthodox sister churches.
We recall that on 12 October, an extraordinary
session of the
Bishops' Council of the Church of Greece confirmed officially
the legality of
the actions of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew granting
autocephaly to the
Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
On 19 October the name of Metropolitan Epifany
was commemorated
for the first time during the Great Entrance in the Divine
Liturgy in Salonika,
where Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop of Athens
and all-Greece
Ieronymos concelebrated.
On 21 October, Archbishop of Athens and
all-Greece Ieronymos II
sent a letter to Metropolitan of Kiev and all-Ukraine Epifany,
in which he attested
to the establishment of full ecclesiastical communion with the
Orthodox Church
of Ukraine. (tr. by PDS, posted 30 October 2019)
R.P.Ts. HOPES THAT AFTER GREEK CHURCH NOBODY ELSE
RECOGNIZES
P.Ts.U.
The Moscow patriarchate expressed regret in
connection with the
official recognition of the PTsU on the part of the Greek
Orthodox Church.
This was reported by Interfax-Religiia.
"We regret that the Greek church made such a
decision, but
we understand that the Greek church is not independent; there is
no
full-fledged autocephaly, full independence, and fully half of
its hierarchs
are hierarchs of the patriarchate of Constantinople," the head
of the
synod's Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan
Ilarion, said on
Wednesday, responding to journalists' questions.
He expressed the hope that "no other local church
will
follow this sad example."
Yesterday it was learned that Archbishop of
Athens and
all-Greece Ieronymos II sent a letter to the head of the PTsU,
Epifany, in
which he declared the actual recognition of that church.
The Department for External Church Relations of
the UPTsMP
[Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate] called
what happened a
"knife in the back." (tr. by PDS, posted 30 October 2019)
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