UKRAINIAN NEWS MEDIA ANNOUNCE DATE OF UNIFICATION COUNCIL
Interfax-Religiia, 14 November 2018
The locum tenens of the West European exarchate of Constantinople, Metropolitan of Gaul Emmanuel, will arrive in Kiev on Thursday for preparing the conduct of the so-called unification council, GolosUA writes.
As reported, the goal of the council is the creation of a new church in Ukraine, independent from the Moscow patriarchate.
According to information of the publication, the council will be held on 22 November, while before this time there will already be prepared the charter of the "Orthodox Church in Ukraine" and the text of the tomos concerning autocephaly. The head of the future church structure will be chosen at the council.
The publication notes that the two exarchs of Constantinople who were sent to Kiev will take part in the council with the right to vote. At the same time, the heads of the noncanonical churches of Ukraine, Filaret Denisenko and Makary Maletich, will not participate in the sessions of the forum in order to "shield the bishops from the temptation of breaking into the old 'parties.'"
According to information of journalists, the new church structure will be independent in administration, but holy oil and confirmation of the primate chosen will be received from the ecumenical patriarch.
It is also noted that in the draft of the tomos there is already included the provision of more than 20 annexes of the patriarchate of Constantinople, which Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko promised to provide before the start of presidential elections. . . . (tr. by PDS, posted 14 November 2018)
UNIFICATION COUNCIL FOR TOMOS: POSSIBLE DATE NAMED
A unification council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, at which autocephaly should be announced and a primate elected, is promised to occur on 22 November.
This announcement was made by a former press secretary of the primate of the UPTsMP, Archpriest Georgy Kovalenko, on the program "Your Liberty," Krym.realii reports.
"The Moscow patriarchate—there was such a church in the U.S.S.R., a rudiment, which still remains in the post-soviet space. The last congress of the Communist Party of the U.S.S.R. was held in 1991. And already in 1991 there were members of the Central Committee of the C.P.S.U. who managed to leave the Communist Party, even before its complete ban," he said.
According to the archpriest, despite the actions that have occurred and statements that are being made, events in the Moscow patriarchate in Ukraine may develop "on the model of the C.P.S.U. of 1990-1991."
"We are in a transition period. The Moscow patriarchate has been determined both on the whole and in Ukraine. One must wait. A unification council is promised for 22 November. According to church rules and traditions, any decision of the hierarchy must be made or not made also by the clergy and faithful," he emphasized.
Kovalenko also declared that all local churches will try to do everything they can so that this conflict will not grow onto a worldwide level.
"Therefore to support relations with both Moscow and Constantinople, in this process they will most likely try to solve their own issues rather than to block or to help some of the participants in the process," he added.
We recall that at the unification council a general charter of a united Ukrainian Orthodox Church will be adopted. In particular, in the presence of an exarch of the ecumenical patriarchate the unification of three churches will be accomplished—the Kiev patriarchate, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and part of the Moscow patriarchate.
A spokesman for the UPTsKP, Evstraty, described who will be able to participate in the unification council of the UPTs. He also specified that the event may be held in the Holy Wisdom cathedral in Kiev.
As Obozrevatel reported, in early November there appeared unconfirmed information that the unification council of the UPTs may be held on 21 November. (tr. by PDS, posted 14 November 2018)
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