ANTIOCH CHURCH CALLS FOR EMERGENCY CONVOCATION OF PAN-ORTHODOX CONFERENCE ON UKRAINIAN QUESTION
Interfax-Religiia, 8 October 2018
The Holy Synod of the Antioch Church called upon Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew to convene, on an urgent basis, a conference of heads of Orthodox churches for discussion of the situation regarding Ukraine
"The Orthodox Antioch Church asks His Holiness the ecumenical patriarch that he would call an emergency meeting of primates of local churches for discussion of changes occurring in the Orthodox world and granting of autocephaly to new churches and for working out joint decisions rather than to make a final resolution on this matter," the Synod's statement says, which was distributed on Saturday.
The Antioch Church warns of the danger of involvement of the Orthodox church in international political struggles and of the harm in the approach to the Orthodox church on political, racial, or ethnic grounds.
The Antioch Synod expressed "great alarm in connection with actions that will lead to a change in the geography of Orthodox churches," and it spoke out against the fact that history will be viewed "in a unilateral way," since this will not serve Orthodox unity but, on the contrary, "will inflame hatred and lead to division among the sons of the one church."
The resolution of the Synod says that the Antioch Church rejects the principles of establishing a new church within the boundaries of the canonical borders of existing patriarchates or autocephalous churches "as a method for resolving conflicts."
The Antioch Church calls fraternal churches to vigilance so that they will not slip into "political wells," since history shows that these political snares weakened the Orthodox church and the real existing Orthodox unity in the world.
The Antioch Orthodox Church is one of the oldest in the world. According to tradition, it was founded by the apostles Peter and Paul. It occupies third place in the diptych of local Orthodox churches. Its jurisdiction includes Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Oman.
As has been reported, Patriarch Kirill spoke out with an initiative to conduct a conference of heads of Orthodox churches regarding the situation in Ukraine, whose authorities are seeking autocephaly. Kirill sent corresponding letters to the primates of the local churches. As of today, beside the Antioch Church, this initiative has already received the support of the Polish Orthodox Church. In addition, in late September, Patriarch of Alexandria Theodore, "second in honor" among Orthodox primates, promised the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church his support on the international level.
In Ukraine, in recent weeks, the church conflict has intensified because of the intention of the patriarchate of Constantinople to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, creating thereby a local church that is independent from the patriarchate of Moscow. This has evoked dissent on the part of a substantial portion of believers in Ukraine, who are adherents of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. (tr. by PDS, posted 8 October 2018)
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