A united Ukrainian Church & the part Constantinople will play

Kyiv (RISU) — The renewal of the unity of Ukrainian Orthodoxy is more important for UOC-MP than canonical status. So said the press secretary of the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate, head of the Synodal Department, Mission of Spiritual Education, chief editor of the portal Orthodoxy in Ukraine, archpriest Heorhii Kovalenko at a web conference conducted with him by portal RISU. During the conference, he, in particular, expressed his ideas as to the prospect of unity of Ukrainian Orthodoxy and the role of Constantinople and Moscow in the process. He also talked about the relations of UOC with other Orthodox churches in Ukraine.

Fr. Heorhii stressed that UOC hopes for support from the heads of local Orthodox churches for “the efforts of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church towards the renewal of unity of the Ukrainian Orthodoxy.” “This means that UOC will not only continue negotiations with the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate, but also has the necessary potential for the unification of divided Ukrainian Orthodoxy and consolidation of Ukrainian society,” he noted.

The UOC head’s press secretary also stressed that “UOC sees the prospect of the renewal of unity of Orthodoxy in Ukraine in a synodal discussion of the Ukrainian question and development of a unified position of the Universal Orthodoxy on ways of overcoming the divide.” At the same time, he added that “a lot will depend on those, who, hopefully, temporarily, are outside the Church fence.” “The Church expects exactly their return,” he stressed.

In response to the question about a possibility of granting the autonomous status by UOC, the archpriest answered that “UOC considers it necessary to have a synodal discussion of the question of improvement of its canonical status after the renewal of unity of Ukrainian Orthodoxy.” He also stressed that “UOC is prepared for the synodal discussion of the problem in the whole fullness of the Orthodox Church and not only at its own synod.”

As for the prospect of unification of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine under the headship of the Constantinople Patriarch, the guest of the web-conference noted: “I visited Constantinople and did not see any desire on the part of the Universal Patriarch to establish his jurisdiction in Ukraine, contrary to what some of our politicians and media say. But I could see interest and desire to assist in solving the Ukrainian Church issue.” He expressed hope that “the Universal Church will find solutions, which will not divide the Ukrainian Church community but facilitate its unification.”

Father Heorhii noted that “when one objectively analyses the actions of Constantinople with respect to Ukrainian Orthodoxy, one can notice the desire to solve the issues in the canonical way, and the canonical principle is: “one town – one bishop.” He stressed that “Orthodoxy worldwide is not indifferent to the events in Ukraine. This is indicated by this year’s visit of the Universal and Moscow patriarchs to Ukraine as well. Moreover, after the recent meeting of the heads of the Orthodox churches in Istanbul, the Head of UOC addressed Universal Orthodoxy with a request to assist to overcome the divide of Orthodox Ukrainians and define a joint position on ways to overcome the divides in Ukraine.”

In the end, the press secretary of the head of UOC stressed: “I cannot say on behalf of the whole Moscow Patriarchate but I am sure that Orthodoxy is open to inter-Christian and inter-religious dialogue.”