You might remember that in May the Jerusalem Patriarchate complained about an uncanonical building effort by the Romanian Church in Jericho (see here). It looks like a similar complaint is being lodged by the Ukrainians.
(RISU) - On 26 August, under the headship of Metropolitan Volodymyr, a regular session of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate was held in the Synodal Hall of the Kyivan Metropolitanate.
The Synod decided to appoint Archimandrite Iona (Cherepanov) the Vicar of the Kyivan Metropolitanate and Bishop of Obukhiv.
The synod heard a report of the Head of the Department of External Church Relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Oleksandr of Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi and Vyshnevskyi on the situation regarding the consecration on 16 July of the Church of St. Peter and Paul in the village of Kamyshivka of Izmail District of Odesa Region by clergymen of the Romanian Orthodox Church. UOC representatives stressed that the Romanian Patriarchate never approached the hierarchs of the UOC for a permission to consecrate the mentioned Church as one which is located within the canonical territory of UOC. The participants of the synod concluded that such actions contradict the canonical order of the Orthodox Church and are in no way conducive to brotherly relations between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The Synod decided to:
Express concern over the activity of the Besarabian Metropolitanate of the Romanian Orthodox Church in the canonical territory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Ask Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine on behalf of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to send an appropriate letter to Blessed Patriarch Daniel of Romania.
The Synod also renamed the Supreme Church Council of UOC into the Coordination Council of Heads of Synodal Institutions of the Primate of UOC.
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The underlying question is whether canonical borders automatically change with political borders. The Romanian Church still considers Bessarabia part of its jurisdiction, and the Moscow Patriarchate considers it part of its jurisdiction. Both could make a claim to being the legitimate ecclesiastical authority. If I'm not mistaken, the MP only gained the region when the Soviet Union annexed it.
ReplyDeleteThat the Romanian Patriarchate has parishes there may also be a reaction to Russification within Moldova. Liturgically, they do everything like the Russians (including vestments, music), except for language. The Romanian church, of course, has its own patrimony that is distinct from Russian practice.