Kyivan Patriarchate Defends Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate
On October 5-6, in Moscow, a regular session of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church was held. Two of the decisions of the synod, namely, Journal 97 and 98, attracted the attention of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) as, according to the UOC-KP, they are tactless with respect to the rights “of the independence and self-rule” of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate.
In both documents, the structures of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are openly called the structures of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Representatives of the UOC-KP cite the journals of the sessions of the synod.
“We heard a report of Most Holy Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus on his archpastoral visits to the eparchies of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Information: Since the last session of the Holy Synod, Most Holy Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus visited the following eparchies of the Russian Orthodox Church: the Crimean Eparchy, Kyivan, …Luhansk,.. Chernivtsi eparchies.”
Representatives of UOC-Kyivan Patriarchate reminded the Russian Orthodox Church that, legally, the Crimean Eparchy, Kyivan, Luhansk or Chernivtsi eparchies of the Russian Orthodox Church do not exist. These are the eparchies of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate which belongs to the Moscow Patriarchate as a whole, as a structure with rights of wide autonomy, and not part by part.
Representatives of the Kyivan Patriarchate stress that the use of such formulations in an official document of the synod of the ROC is to be viewed as a formal negation of the existence of the autonomous structure of the UOC-MP or a mistake by the people who prepared the documents. For if the existence of the autonomous structure of the UOC-MP is recognized, the text “Patriarch visited the Kyivan Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church” would sound similar to the formulation “Patriarch made an archpastoral visit to the Annunciation Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church in Voronezh.” That is not to Voronezh Eparchy but exactly to the parish which appears to have no relation to the eparchy. But Journal 98 confirms that the mentioned formulations were included in the synod’s document deliberately. It deals with the visit of Most Holy Catolicos Patriarch Illia II to Kyiv.
The document mentions the “satisfaction with the visit of the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church to the Russian Orthodox Church.” At least it is good that they did not write “to the Kyiv Eparchy of ROC.”
The UOC-MP has made efforts for many years to prove that it is really a Ukrainian Church and not a branch of the ROC in Ukraine. At the same time, the Kyivan Patriarchate has always stated the opposite, and suddenly it has got an ally in the person of Patriarch Kirill who has diligently made efforts with each visit and document to prove that in reality the UOC-MP is not more than a eparchy of the Russian Church,” reported Cerkva.info.
