"Artificial confederation of schismatics": the Serbian church did not officially recognize the new religious structure of Ukraine

The Serbian Orthodox Church has declared that it does not recognize the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (PCA) created at the so-called unification council in Kiev. It is reported by the Bureau of Press and Mass Media SPT. The reason for this decision was the "non-canonical invasion" of the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew into the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Recall that on January 6, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople handed Epiphanius and the President of Ukraine Tomos about autocephaly.

“The Serbian Orthodox Church does not recognize as proclaimed“ autocephalous church of Ukraine ”, but from a canonical point of view it does not exist, but in fact is forced upon, artificial“ confederation ”of Ukrainian splitting groups (already zealously opposing each other and uncontrollably going to separation) . The schismatics remained schismatics, ”the official statement said.

It is noted that the only recognized church in Ukraine is the canonical UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate, headed by the Most Blessed Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine.

In addition, the SPC believes that the unifying council that took place on December 15, 2018 “dug up a ditch of alienation and disintegration” of Ukrainian society even deeper.

The SPC also recommended that its hierarchs and clerics refrain from liturgical and canonical communication with representatives of the PCU and the clergy who serve with them.

“The Serbian Orthodox Church asks and implores the Most Holy Patriarch of Constantinople to reconsider the decisions taken by him to this day and restore the former blessed peace and unity of the local holy churches of God, because there is nothing so necessary and precious as love, peace and unity of opinion between the brothers,” notes in custody.

In turn, the head of the synodal department of the Moscow Patriarchate on church relations with society and the media, Vladimir Legoyda, called the official statement of the TWC "tough and unequivocal."

“The document strictly and unambiguously assesses the non-canonical invasion of the Constantinople Patriarchate into the territory of the Russian Church, and the past“ unifying council ”is referred to as a disjunctive and separative false selector,” he wrote in his Telegram channel.

The new religious structure of Ukraine has not officially received the recognition of a number of other local churches: the Cyprus Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church in America pointed to the splitting nature of the HCV. At the same time, the Romanian Church called for a dialogue between the ROC and Constantinople to resolve the crisis situation in Ukraine.

“At the moment there is not a single local Orthodox church that is ready to recognize the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. On the contrary, there are already churches that have declared that they will not recognize the CCP. These are Polish, Serbian, Antiochian Orthodox churches. Soon, other churches, in particular, the Bulgarian, will express their decision not to recognize the new church structure in Ukraine, ”said Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, deputy head of the department for external church relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate on February 21.

“In Ukraine, the religious schism has only worsened”

According to political analyst Ivan Mezyuho, the negative reaction of local Orthodox churches to the creation of the so-called PCU was expected.

“Of course, the very purpose of the creation was pre-election, but the creators of this religious organization were only partially able to achieve electoral goals. The majority of believers in Ukraine give preference to the UOC-MP and in every possible way resist the forceful transition of religious communities. In Ukraine, the religious schism only worsened, it acquired new outlines, and in fact we see that another schismatic structure was created, ”he said in an interview with RT.

• Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople signs a tomos on autocephaly of the new religious structure of Ukraine
• globallookpress.com
• © Petro Poroshenko

In turn, the head of the Center for the Study of Problems of Religion and Society of the Institute of Europe, Russian Academy of Sciences Roman Lunkin expects that many Orthodox churches will have a “condemning epiphany” after the defeat, which the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew initiated.

“There will be a number of statements condemning the actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The SEC and many other national Orthodox churches were outraged by the aggressive and rude position that Patriarch Bartholomew took in resolving the Ukrainian issue, how the canonical foundations of the church were trampled and how the world was destroyed in Ukraine and the whole Orthodox world was split, ”the source said. .

At the same time, he indicated that Constantinople had embarked on a splitting path in the desire to gain a foothold in the territory of Ukraine.

“In addition, Patriarch Bartholomew actually had political reasons for taking such steps, as he was supported by part of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States and Canada, as well as a significant part of the Western world, including representatives of the American administration. I think that Patriarch Bartholomew sought to act as a spokesman for the interests of Western anti-Russian policy, ”the expert explained.

On Wednesday, February 27, the head of the department for external church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, Hilarion also pointed out the inappropriate actions of Constantinople. According to him, over the past century, the KP has been imposing its religious model on the ROC; one of the key stages of this process was the provision of autocephaly to the Ukrainian church.

“The Patriarchate of Constantinople in the 1920–1930s supported the renovationist split inspired by the Soviet government. He non-canonically extended his jurisdiction to Estonia, Latvia and Finland, proclaimed the autocephaly of the Polish Church, which had previously been part of the Russian Church ... Our Church has long preferred to keep silent about these sad phenomena of the past, tried to cover the spiritual mistakes made by our brothers, At the same time, trying not to change the historical truth and remain faithful to the holy canons, ”TASS quotes him.