POROSHENKO DID NOT ARRIVE AT LAVRA FOR MEETING WITH UPTs CLERGY
Interfax-Religiia, 13 November 2018
The meeting of Ukrainian Petro Poroshenko with bishops of the UPTs scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday turned out to be scuttled.
"Judging by everything, the meeting of President Poroshenko with the episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church announced earlier did not occur. The president did not arrive at the Kiev caves lavra, which the church designated as the place of meeting," the head of the Department for Relations of Church with Society and News Media of the Moscow patriarchate, Vladimir Legoida, wrote on Tuesday in his Telegram-Channel.
The initiator of the meeting was the head of state. At the same time, Metropolitan of Kiev and all-Ukraine Onufrey insisted that the conversation be held in an ecclesiastical space, specifically in the lavra. According to news media information, the president, on the contrary, insisted on holding the meeting in Ukraine House, but in the course of extensive dialogue the metropolitan managed to persuade him.
"However today it became clear that Petro Poroshenko will not arrive at the lavra and has prepared a provocation against the bishops of the UPTs: after the agreement about the scheduled date the bishops received an order from the head of the administration of the president, Igor Rainin, to come at the same time (2:00 p.m.) to Ukraine House," the Union of Orthodox Journalists reports.
The topic of the meeting of the episcopate with the head of state was supposed to be the situation regarding the creation of a "United Local Church," independent from the Moscow patriarchate, a process in which the canonical UPTs has refused from the very beginning to participate, considering it to be interference of Constantinople and secular authorities in the religious life of the country. In opening today's session of the Synod, Metropolitan Onufrey condemned attempts by external forces to turn the church into a "political tool. . . ." (tr. by PDS, posted 13 November 2018)
POROSHENKO PHONES METROPOLITAN ONUFREY AND WONDERS WHY BISHOPS DID NOT ARRIVE
Interfax-Religiia, 13 November 2018
During the session of the Bishops' Council of UPTs, which was held on Tuesday in the Kiev caves lavra, Ukrainian President Petro Porowhenko unexpectedly telephoned Metropolitan Onufrey and said he was waiting for the bishops in another place, a source in the UPTs told Interfax.
As was reported, this afternoon a meeting of the episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the head of state was supposed to be held, but the president did not arrive for it, although the place of the meeting had been confirmed a few days ago in a personal telephone conversation with Metropolitan Onufrey. The absence of P. Poroshenko in the lavra, with whom the bishops intended to talk at his personal request, was a surprise for them.
"Meanwhile, the president called the metropolitan and asked why the bishops had not come to meet him," the news agency's source said.
In response, the head of the UPTs explained that since the agenda of the meeting deals with a church topic and not a governmental one, then it would be reasonable to meet in an ecclesiastical space and he again invited P. Poroshenko to come to the bishops assembled in the lavra, but the invitation was declined.
The topic of the meeting of the episcopate with the head of state was supposed to be the situation concerning the creation of a "United Local Church," independent from the Moscow patriarchate, a process in which the canonical UPTs from the very start refused to participate, considering it interference by Constantinople and secular authorities in the religious life of the country.
In its resolution, the Bishops' Council pointed out that hundreds of thousands of appeals from believers of the UPTs to Patriarch Bartholomew, with a call not to legalize schism under the pretext of creating autocephaly, have remained without attention.
"Apparently Mr. Poroshenko understood that he did not have to take responsibility for anything," Vladimir Legoida, the head of the Department for Relations of Church with Society and News Media of the Moscow patriarchate, commented on the nonappearance of the president for Interfax. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 November 2018)
POROSHENKO READY FOR DIALOGUE WITH UPTs ON CREATING UNITED LOCAL CHURCH
Interfax-Religiia, 13 November 2018
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declares his readiness for dialogue in Ukraine House with bishops of the UPTs regarding creation of a local church, as was proposed earlier, Interfax was told on Tuesday in the press service of the administration of the head of state.
"The president invited the bishops of the UPTsMP to a dialogue so that they could hear first-hand from him information about his conversations with the ecumenical patriarch, about the agreement between Ukraine and the patriarchate of Constantinople, and about the readiness of the ecumenical see to facilitate the holding of a unification council. The Ukrainian president is ready for dialogue. The doors of Ukraine House remain open," the press service of the administration of the president reported.
There it was noted that P. Poroshenko initiated a meeting with all bishops of the UPTs who consistently defend the unity of Ukraine and wish for the unity of the Ukrainian church. "But whoever does not want results seeks reasons for refusal. So the greater portion of bishops of the UPTsMP began looking for explanations so as not to come to a meeting, saying the place is not appropriate," the administration of the head of state explained.
Meanwhile in the presidential administration it is thought that "neither the language of ultimatums nor the conduct of a session of the Synod according to a scenario that was apparently sent from Moscow will be able to break up the process of the creation of a Ukrainian local Orthodox church. This process is supported by an absolute majority of citizens of our state. Therefore to go against the will of their own people is obviously a road to nowhere," the report notes.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Bishops' Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church declared its readiness to conduct a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko only on church territory. Its concluding document explains the reason for the selection of such a place for the meeting. It follows from the statement that the bishops think that the current state of church-state relations and the public statements of the leadership of the state may be evaluated as directed against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Also the episcopate took into account the moods and opinions of the church people and clergy. Finally, the bishops believe that "church questions should be discussed on church territory." (tr. by PDS, posted 13 November 2018)
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