"THE DECISION HAS BEEN MADE"—PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW ASSURED RPTsMP DELEGATION OF INEVITABILITY OF UKRAINIAN AUTOCEPHALY
Portal-Credo.ru, 31 August 2018
The ecumenical patriarch informed the Moscow patriarch on 31 August, during a meeting in Istanbul, that the decision concerning granting the Ukrainian church autocephaly has been made. This was reported by the Greek internet publication Orthodoxia.info.
According to a statement by Metropolitan of Gaul Immanuel, the ecumenical patriarch explained to the Russian delegation that the decision had been adopted and the process of granting autocephaly is already underway.
"Nobody wants that yet another schism be created but that there be consolidation in the church," Metropolitan Immanuel said. To the declarations of Russian representatives that actually the action of the Constantinople patriarchate will lead to a new schism, Metropolitan Immanuel replied that "the ecumenical patriarchate does not intend to threaten anyone." (tr. by PDS, posted 31 August 2018)
BARTHOLOMEW I TELLS PATRIARCH KIRILL THAT GRANTING UKRAINE AUTOCEPHALY WILL END 25-YEAR SCHISM
The ecumenical patriarch told the Russia patriarch that the 25-year schism in Ukrainian Orthodoxy is approaching its end. The Constantinople patriarchate is ready to grant the Ukrainian church autocephaly: "This will be not the creation of a new schism but the consolidation of the church."
This statement upon the conclusion of the meeting of the two patriarchs was made by Metropolitan of Gaul Immanuel, who is responsible for the process of granting a tomos to Ukraine. This was reported by a correspondent for "Gromadsky" from the site of the event.
"The Constantinople church is strong and it has opportunities throughout the world. The ecumenical patriarchate, with its long life and experience, is the first church in the Orthodox family. It plays a special role. Therefore a decision sometimes comes from it. The main question that was discussed is the question of the situation in Ukraine. You know that there is a schism there, which has continued for more than 25 years. The ecumenical patriarchate decided to use all paths in order to resolve the question of granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The decision was made in April And we are implementing this decision. The ecumenical patriarchate does not threaten schism; such threats come from the other side. This was communicated to Patriarch Kirill during his visit," Immanuel noted.
The hierarch noted that the question of overcoming church schism in Ukraine remains important for the ecumenical patriarchate.
The conversation of Patriarch Bartholomew with Patriarch Kirill lasted two and a half hours. (tr. by PDS, posted 31 August 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/.