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Patriarch Filaret: Moscow Will Try to Liquidate Independence of UOC-MP in February

29.01.2013, 12:44
Patriarch Filaret: Moscow Will Try to Liquidate Independence of UOC-MP in February - фото 1
Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) has called on the bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) to preserve the self-rule of their church and defend it from the encroachments of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.

1088-uoc.jpgPatriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) has called on the bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) to preserve the self-rule of their church and defend it from the encroachments of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), Patriarch Kirill, reads Patriarch Filaret’s special address to the bishops posted by the website of the Kyiv Patriarchate.

The Primate reminded that last year, the ROC made attempts “to destroy the structures of the UOC-MP through 'bringing the Statutes of the UOC in line with the Statutes of the ROC.' The implementation of that plan was then suspended but not abandoned. According to Patriarch Filaret, Moscow has now resumed it.

“It is known that under the pretext 'of bringing the Statutes of the UOC in line with the Statutes of the ROC,” they intend to pass at the Hierarchical Council of the ROC on February 2-5 decisions to change the structure of the UOC-MP and to introduce metropolitan circuits in at after the pattern of Russian ones. It is planned to have these changes proposed by the head of the Statutory Committee of UOC-MP, Metropolitan Ilarion (Shukalo) of Donetsk of UOC-MP, whose activity at that post was extensively criticized by you last year,” reads the address.

According to Patriarch Filaret, if that decision is passed, the Kyiv Metropolitanate headed by Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) will be transformed into one of the metropolitanates of the Moscow Ptriarchate in Ukraine.