GOD LEFT POROSHENKO: CONSTANTINOPLE WILL NOT GIVE UKRAINE AUTOCEPHALY BECAUSE OF ONUFREY
Moskovskii Komsomolets, 23 November 2018
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared that his advisor Rostislav Pavlenko will participate in the session of the Synod of the patriarchate of Constantinople, in the course of which the decision on granting a tomos concerning autocephaly to the church in Ukraine will be confirmed. According to the Ukrainian leader, Kiev is a step away from the creation of a local church. MK investigated whether this is the case.
The event in Constantinople is supposed to occur from 27 to 29 November. At that time a date of the so-called "unification council" of the Ukrainian Orthodox churches will be announced. It is expected that it will occur before the end of 2018.
At the same time, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has frequently declared that representatives of the canonical church do not want to join with the schismatics from the other religious organizations. According to the head of the Ukrainian church, Metropolitan Onufrey, priests fight for the salvation of the human soul and not for the political system of Poroshenko. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian president still met with three hierarchs of the UPTsMP, and the S.B.U. is trying to put pressure on other priests, summoning them to prophylactic conversations.
Whether Poroshenko will succeed in creating a united autocephalous church, MK sought to learn from Roman Lunkin, the president of the Guild of Experts on Religion and Law.
--[R. Lunkin] "First, at the Synod of the patriarchate of Constantinople most likely a positive decision about a tomos will be made. At this stage, Poroshenko and advocates of a united church may consider their task to be accomplished. At the same time, a date will be announced for the "unification council," which actually will not be such a thing, although Ukrainian authorities still will call it their victory.
"The decisions of the council will be very ambiguous. First of all, it is quite clear that Poroshenko has not been able to introduce a split in the ranks of the UPTsMP. I think that Constantinople understands that a unification congress without the participation of representatives of the largest church in Ukraine will look very strange. While Onufrey continues his opposition, one can add to this the factor of the head of the UPTsKP, Filaret, who does not conceal his ambitions for power within the new organization. A representative of the Kiev patriarch will promote his protégé as head of the unified church and he sees himself in the capacity of a 'gray cardinal.' The problem with this is that Constantinople does not want to see Filaret in power, since it does not trust him.
"In connection with this, as the results of the unification council there most likely will be announced the creation of some structures, which in the future will lead to the appearance of a united local church. Probably the decision will be formalized as a temporary exarchate of the Constantinople patriarchate that includes the UAPTs and the UPTsKP, led by one of the exarchs who have already been sent to Ukraine.
--What kind of future awaits the UPTsMP after this?
--The Ukrainian authorities are psychologically prepared to arrange persecutions of the Moscow patriarchate. First, a draft law on the change of the name of the UPTsMP has already been prepared. Second, the division or even the appropriation of property from the out-of-favor church will begin. Third, there will be an attempt to transfer their parishes from one church to another: some places the parishioners will demand this and other places the priests will be bought off.
--Did you expect that the UPTsMP would demonstrate such cohesion?
--Originally it was expected that up to a third of the clergy of the UPTsMP might transfer into the unified church. Thoughts about a possible schism did not disappear until late spring of 2018. However the harsh statements of Filaret and pressure on the part of Ukrainian authorities drew priests together. Even opponents of Moscow within the UPTsMP consolidated themselves around Onufrey. (tr. by PDS, posted 25 November 2018)
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