Update on internecine discord in Ukraine

I post on the Ukrainian situation on occasion and often forget to give any context. The UOC-MP is the universally recognized body tied to Moscow. The UAOC and UOC-KP are not and have not unified because of conflicts in a few areas (chiefly the UAOC request for the removal of the UOC-KP patriarch as a precondition).

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(RISU) - Last week in an interview to Kp.ua, the Administrator of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) Metropolitan Antonii (Pakanych) of Boryspil spoke about the prospects of the dialogue with the Kyivan Patriarchate, Religion.in.ua reported.

In his interview, Metropolitan Antonii stressed that the UOC-MP is prepared to carry on the dialogue with the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) and that the UOC-MP “now has an official dialogue with the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.” He admitted that no dialogue with the Kyiv Patriarchate has been launched and that “only consultations were conducted on a possible format of the dialogue.”

In answer to the question “why it was not possible even to start a dialogue with the Kyivan Patriarchate,” Metropolitan Antonii answered, “Many ordinary members of our church still remember the conflicts of 1990s, the struggle for church buildings, clashes between communities including the attempt to seize the Kyiv Cave Monastery. This considerably complicates the preparation of the dialogue. In addition, there are serious differences between our church and the Kyivan Patriarchate regarding possible ways of overcoming the divide. Our church insists that all those who deliberately broke the connection with the world Orthodoxy should repent and return to the church communication. However, the Kyivan Patriarchate does not admit its guilt in the tragedy of the church divide. But despite these difficulties, we believe that the Lord will open to us ways to overcome the church divide in Ukraine.”