PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW RECALLS THAT CONSTANTINOPLE PATRIARCHATE NEVER TRANSFERRED KIEV METROPOLIA TO JURISDICTION OF MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE
The Constantinople patriarchate never recognized the ecclesiastical authority of Moscow over Ukraine. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew declared this on 1 July during a commemorative liturgy on the occasion of the 40th day since the repose of Metropolitan Evangel, Levyi Bereg reports, with a reference to the blog of the secretary of the Holy Synod of the UPTsKP, Archbishop Evstraty, who, in his turn, cited Greek sources.
"Constantinople never gave permission to transfer the territory of Ukraine to anybody, except for the right of consecration of the metropolitan of Kiev in Moscow on the condition that he was elected collegially in Kiev at a local council with the unconditional commemoration of the ecumenical patriarch. This was stated in the tomos concerning autocephaly that the Mother-Church gave to the Polish church: our see did not recognize the separation of the Kiev metropolitanate and the Orthodox churches of Lithuania and Poland that were dependent upon it and their joining to the Moscow church, which was carried out contrary to the canons and the rights of the Kiev metropolitanate—which bore the title exarch of the Ecumenical See--were not observed," Patriarch Bartholomew said.
He also declared that the Ecumenical See wishes "to restore the unity in Ukraine of the divided church body—tens of millions of believers, who were baptized and enlightened immediately by the care and missionary activity of the Ecumenical See."
"Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew spoke about his unchanged care (interest) in the resolution (healing) of the Ukrainian church question and the restoration of unity of the divided church body in the country. His Holiness recalled that the Constantinople church always cared about and solved many difficult ecclesiastical questions in the interests of the people of God and maintained pan-Orthodox unity and fights today for the repair of church affairs in Ukraine," Archbishop Evstraty's communication says. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 July 2018)
Editorial disclaimer: RRN does
not intend to certify the accuracy of information
presented in articles. RRN simply intends to certify the
accuracy of the English translation of the contents of the
articles as they appeared in news media of countries of
the former USSR.
If material is quoted, please give credit to the
publication from which it came. It is not necessary to credit
this Web page. If material is transmitted electronically, please
include reference to the URL,
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.