Kiev Patriarchate seeks help from Constantinople

[queue boxing music and noisy ringside enthusiasts] Constantinople, tonight's main even announcer: "In this corner wearing blue and gold trunks, the welterweight, striving for autocephaly and a united Ukrainian Church... theeeee.... Kiii... eevvv.... Paaaatriarch.... aaaatte!

And in the other corner wearing white blue and red trunks, the super heavyweight and reigning Slavic Champion of the World for 560 years... your Mosss... cccoooww.... Paatriach.... aatttteeee!"

So, Kiev wants Constantinople to mediate the current butting of heads between the two groups. On the other side is Moscow who thinks Constantinople has no business in any of it. They have gone so far as to be be outraged that the Ecumenical Patriarch has visited countries in their jurisdiction without an "invitation" in "clear contradiction with canon law." Moscow, further has posited (in rather unequivocal media announcements) that Constantinople is power hungry and seeking to exclude Moscow from Catholic-Orthodox dialogues through trickery and duplicity. In essence, they say that Constantinople makes it impossible for them to be seated and then pushes through agenda that Moscow would never agree to.

Kyiv (RISU) — On 18 July 2008, the day before the festive Liturgy for the 1020th anniversary of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus, at the patriarchal residence in Kyiv a session of the Patriarchal Sobor (Assembly) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) met. Speaking about the meeting, Patriarch Filaret (Denysenko), head of the UOC-KP, emphasized that the Patriarchate of Constantinople is the mother-church and so must help the Ukrainian church solve its destructive problems.

Patriarch Filaret described the events that took place in the period after the national sobor of the UOC-KP. Specifically, he described the reception to the response of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) to the 14 December 2007 UOC-KP address of the synod and episcopate regarding improving dialogue between the UOC-KP and the UOC-MP.

The patriarch expressed to the hierarchs of the UOC-KP envisioned ways to stop the canonical isolation of the UOC-KP and to achieve church unity in Ukrainian Orthodoxy.

After the discussion of the patriarch’s report, the members of the sobor unanimously supported the patriarch’s position on possible ways to achieve church unity and recognition of the autocephaly of the Ukrainian church.

At the work of the sobor were 34 hierarchs out of the 38 hierarchs of the UOC-KP. Four hierarchs were absent: three were abroad on ministry, and Archbishop of Zaporizhia Hryhorii was absent due to illness.

And around the same time, this from His All Holiness:

Kyiv (RISU) — The Patriarchate of Constantinople publicized special materials on the occasion of the 1020th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus-Ukraine that has been posted on the official site of the president of Ukraine. Among other things, the text states: “in Ukraine there will be one national church, for which the true Christians and patriots of their land hunger.” RISU’s Ukrainian-language site posted the news on 21 July 2008.

“This year our Metropolitanate, the Kyivan, once the largest by territory, is celebrating 1020 years from the time of its official baptism. This is a holy day not only for Kyiv but for the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The history of Ukrainian Christianity is long and fairly complicated, and not unambiguous from the historical point of view; not infrequently everything did not go as Constantinople and Kyiv would have liked. There were moments of misunderstanding, but never in its more than 1000-year history did our spiritual daughter, the Kyivan Metropolitanate, reject its connections with its Mother, the Patriarchate of Constantinople,” read the materials of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

“Completing the survey of church relations between the lordly Ecumenical Patriarchate and its daughter Church of Kyiv, again we recall that for all the more than 1000-year history of the Ukrainian Church, Kyiv always demonstrated proper obedience to the patriarchal throne, listening to its thoughts, and did not do anything that harmed the Universal Orthodox community. Even in today’s difficult times, when Ukrainian Orthodoxy is divided into three branches, the Churches which gave birth to and protect the Ukrainian tradition do not demonstrate unwise intolerance and aggression to their brothers in the one faith. Tolerance and faith will in its time be rewarded, and in Ukraine there will be one national Church, for which the true Christians and patriots of their land hunger,” ends the materials.