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Russian church spokesman: Constantinople church 'slipping into heresy'

Since 2014, Kiev has sought to create an independent church in Ukraine that would sever ties with the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church

MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. The Church of Constantinople has slipped into heresy, and all Orthodox believers have to help it abandon the misconceptions, Alexander Volkov, the press secretary to Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill stated on Monday.

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‘Orthodox Church of Ukraine’ project is purely political — Putin

"The Church of Constantinople has slipped into heresy and misconception. All Orthodox churches must think about how to help the Constantinople Church to overcome these pernicious misconceptions," he said, commenting upon the creation of new religious structures in Ukraine.

According to the press secretary, there is no ground to expect immediate breakthrough results on the issue of the Ukrainian schism. However, "the fact that so many delegates from local churches are currently in Moscow signifies an inter-Orthodox unity," Volkov assured.

On February 1, 2009, Patriarch Kirill became Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus and Primate of the Orthodox Church. Celebrations in honor of the tenth anniversary of this date will be held in Moscow. Representatives of local Orthodox churches are expected to attend the celebrations, along with members of the Roman Catholic Church, Protestant denominations and Muslim organizations.

Church crisis in Ukraine

Since the February 2014 coup, Kiev has sought to create an independent church in Ukraine that would sever ties with the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In April 2018, Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko wrote a personal letter to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople asking for autocephaly for the Ukrainian church.

On December 15, 2018, Kiev hosted the so-called ‘unification’ council held under the supervision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and brokered by the Ukrainian authorities. The canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church refused to take part in the event, stressing that both the ‘unification council’ and Poroshenko’s newly founded ecclesiastical establishment were illegitimate. Nevertheless, after the council, the Ukrainian president announced the establishment of a new church in the country - the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

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