Metropolitan Volodymyr's Press-Secretary: Primate's Illness Will Cause No Sensation in Church

“To talk about the sickness of the metropolitan and calling of the council while he is alive or to publicly discuss this is not prohibited but is not ethical. But these discussions in mass media have nothing to do with the real life,” noted the press-secretary of the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, Protopriest Heorhii Kovalenko as he commented on publication by mass media of various opinions as to divisions inside UOC and calling of the council to elect a new head.

According to Fr. Heorhii, there will be no sensation in connection with the sickness of Metropolitan Volodymyr. Everything will be according to the Church traditions, the Statutes on the government of UOC and the Gospel teaching.

“There is a mechanism of calling of the Holy Synod. And if the need arises, all the questions will be discussed and decisions will be passed which will serve the good of the Church the most, within the canons, Statutes and in the spirit of brotherly love. Because the members of the Holy Synod are the hierarchs who are aware of the responsibility they bear. In addition, the members of the bishopric of UOC are people ordained by the metropolitan himself. They can be called his disciples. And as good disciples, they will continue the work started by the primate, namely, to do everything to ensure that the unity of the Church is not upset,” stressed H. Kovalenko in an interview “On the lack of authority in UOC, “alternative” to the metropolitan and future Church sensations which will not take place” posted by Orthodoxy in Ukraine.

The press-secretary also said that the primate is not the President of the country and not the head of a business corporation as his calling is different.