HEAD OF
P.Ts.U.
LIKENS RECEIPT OF TOMOS ON AUTOCEPHALY WITH ACT OF PROCLAIMING
UKRAINE'S
INDEPENDENCE
The
receipt of the
tomos concerning the autocephaly of the Ukrainian church may be
compared with
the act of proclaiming Ukraine's independence, the primate of
the PTsU
[Orthodox Church of Ukraine], Metropolitan Epifany, declared on
6 January, the
first anniversary of receiving the tomos, and he called
Ukrainians to be united
and work together in the future for the good of Orthodoxy. This
was reported by
Ukrinform.
"A year
ago, on
Christmas Eve, the historic document was sent confirming that
from now on and
forever, the local Orthodox Church of Ukraine is independent and
equal in
everything with the other sister churches. This document
completed the work whose
sources lie in centuries past," the primate of the PTsU
emphasized.
Epifany
said that the
local Ukrainian church is growing and gaining strength,
confirming its
maturity.
"We are
pleased
by the decision of other local churches to have eucharistic
unity and canonical
communion with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, receiving it as
their sister
church. Our great church family is growing steadily: the number
of communities and
parishes is growing, new churches are being built and
consecrated, and we welcome
every believer who comes to our church with love," Epifany
noted.
He also
called
everybody to unity and he noted that "the doors of the local
church and
our hearts are open for you."
The
American embassy
in Ukraine congratulated on Twitter the Orthodox Church of
Ukraine upon the
first anniversary of receiving the tomos concerning autocephaly.
"We congratulate
the Orthodox Church of Ukraine on the first anniversary of
receiving the tomos
concerning autocephaly granted by Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew. We once
again emphasize our strong support of the right of Ukrainians to
freely profess
religion without external interference," the communication says.
(tr. by
PDS, posted 6 January 2020)
METROPOLITAN
EPIFANY
REPORTS WHEN P.Ts.U. WILL BE ABLE TO RECEIVE PATRIARCHATE
The
Orthodox Church
of Ukraine will claim the status of a patriarchate when all
Orthodox Ukrainians
are united around Kiev. This was stated in an interview with
Radio Liberty by
the primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan
Epifany, UNN
reports.
"We have
emphasized that in the future, when Orthodox Ukrainians are all
united around
Kiev, we will claim the status of a patriarchate. But this will
not add any
special rights for us, as it is in the future," Epifany noted.
He
stressed that the
PTsU possesses all the necessary rights that the other local
Orthodox churches
possess. (tr. by PDS, posted 6 January 2020)
U.P.Ts.
REPORTS
ATTEMPT TO SEIZE CHURCH BY SUPPORTERS OF "NEW CHURCH"
Supporters
of the
"new church" of Ukraine made an attempted forcible seizure of a
church in the Ivano-Frankovsk oblast, the website of the
canonical Ukrainian
Orthodox Church reported on Monday. The canonical Ukrainian
Orthodox Church has
previously often reported harassment of priests and seizures of
churches by
representatives of noncanonical religious structures.
"On
Sunday,
representatives of the PTsU continued a forceful takeover of a
church building
in honor of all saints of the Kievan caves. The building is a
part of the ecclesiastical
complex of the church of the Dormition. The raiders also broke
into a church
building where the refectory and Sunday school are located," the
website reports.
The
Ivano-Frankovsk
diocese of the UPTs is asking bodies of local government and law
enforcement
agencies to intervene immediately in the situation.
In 2018,
on the
initiative of the then Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko,
and the
Constantinople patriarchate of Bartholomew, a schismatic
structure was created,
the so-called "Orthodox Church of Ukraine," which was formed by
means
of merger of two other schismatic churches. After receiving from
Patriarch
Bartholomew a tomos concerning autocephaly, in reality the "new
church" found itself almost totally dependent upon
Constantinople. The
Russian Orthodox Church ceased eucharistic fellowship with the
patriarchate of
Constantinople in October 2018. (tr. by PDS, posted 6 January
2020)
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