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Poroshenko-led church council will have no canonical force, vows UOC

In October, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople decided to proceed with granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church

© AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov

KIEV, December 14. /TASS/. The ‘unification council’ to create a new Local Church in Ukraine, scheduled to be held on December 15, will be illegitimate and its decisions will have no canonical force, Archbishop Clement, Chairman of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) Synodal Information Department, told TASS on Friday.

"From the standpoint of Orthodox Christian religious doctrine, this council is not a legitimate church event, and those who are going to take part in it and their decisions will have neither church significance nor canonical force whatsoever," he said, adding that the stance on the non-recognition of the ‘unification’ council and its potential decisions was outlined at the UOC Bishops’ Council and Holy Synod.

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He also stressed that the UOC’s bishops had earlier decided against recognizing the ‘unification’ council, and, if any of them take part in that event, that should indicate that pressure was exerted on them. "I am unaware which of the UOC clerics will attend the so-called council. The UOC’s bishops decided that it was not a legitimate church event, and 83 bishops put their signatures to that statement. It would be strange if, after that statement was approved, they acted contrary to their stance. That would only show that pressure was put on them," he pointed out.

Church crisis in Ukraine

Kiev has attempted to create a Local Orthodox Church in Ukraine independent of the Moscow Patriarchate since 1991. In April 2018, Poroshenko wrote a personal letter to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople asking for autocephaly for the Ukrainian church.

In October, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople decided to proceed with granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church. It revoked the 1686 decision on transferring the Kiev Metropolitanate under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate and announced plans to bring it back under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It also reinstated the heads of two non-canonical churches in Ukraine, Filaret of the Kiev Patriarchate and Makariy of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church, to their hierarchical and priestly ranks.

The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church said in response to that move that full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople was no longer possible. The canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church made a similar decision.

On December 5, Poroshenko announced that the so-called unification council to create the Ukrainian autocephalous church would take place on December 15. He said that Patriarch Bartholomew had sent letters to bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church "inviting them to take part in that historic event." However, bishops from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), taking a cue from Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine, upon receiving these invitations promptly returned them to their sender.

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