BARTHOLOMEW THINKS IT UNJUST TO DEPRIVE UKRAINE OF RIGHT TO AUTOCEPHALY
Interfax-Religiia, 25 October 2018
Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew declared that in the matter of granting autocephaly, he is acting "in the interests of the Ukrainian people," the Greek website Ortodoxia.info reports.
"Ukrainians have the right to autocephaly, like all Balkan nations also, who for some time were in the direct jurisdiction of the ecumenical patriarchate, but the time came when they became independent. Why do all the others have the right to autocephaly, but 45 to 50 million Ukrainians do not? That is unjust," the patriarch said in Istanbul at a meeting with pilgrims from Greece.
At the same time he noted that the issue of acquiring autocephaly became timely for the Ukrainian church after Ukraine received independence in 1991.
In September, Patriarch Bartholomew sent two exarchs to Kiev, who were to prepare the ground for the creation of an autocephalous church, independent from the patriarchate of Moscow. On 11 October, the Synod in Istanbul cancelled the legal force of its order of 1686 transferring the Kiev metropolia to Moscow, announced the creation of its own annex in Kiev, and rehabilitated the leaders of the self-proclaimed Orthodox churches in Ukraine. In response, the Synod of the Moscow patriarchate announced the complete severance of relations with the Constantinople church. (tr. by PDS, posted 25 October 2018)
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