(RISU) - Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine said that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has been a success, but there is still a lot of work to do. He told it to reporters on Monday, according to UNN.
"The first year of the institutional formation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is coming to an end, and today we can say that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, as such, has been a success. But we still have a lot of work to do so that all Orthodox Ukrainians to unite around Kyiv, so that all of us together in the one Local Ukrainian Orthodox Church serve God, serve the interests of our Ukrainian people and serve the interests of the Ukrainian state," the first Hierarch said.
He added that over the past year, about 600 parishes from the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine have joined the Orthodox Church of Ukraine."
"In recent months, there have been some problems related to re-registration, that is, de facto. Some parishes that have declared the transition, are processing their documents," added the Metropolitan.
Last year, on January 5, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew signed the Tomos of autocephaly for the unified Orthodox Church of Ukraine. This document came into force immediately after the Patriarch affixed his signature.
On January 6, Patriarch Bartholomew solemnly presented the Tomos to Primate of the OCU, Metropolitan Epifaniy after the Liturgy in the walls of the Patriarchal Church of St. George on Phanar.
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv - OCU a "success"
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"...mission accomplished..."
ReplyDeleteThe layman, Epiphany, is having delusions again.
ReplyDeleteThe truth of # of parishes is undoubtedly between the 60 and 600 figures given with much of the descrepency most likely due to parishes splitting instead of wholly going over or being legally before a court (and exageration...). So the OCU has gone from ~4k/6.5k priests/parishes to ~4.5/7k, the UOC MP has gone from 12.4/12k to ~12.2/11.8k. The polls show the about 5% of adherents have switched (40% of Orth Ukrainians for OCU vs 20% for UOCMP). It shows how divided Ukr is East and West and how very much the MP isnt going away. So maybe the consolidation of the two churches of OCU has been a success, but I think the idea that the MP churches would flock over has been a resounding failure.
ReplyDeleteYou have to add to that equation however many parishes Filaret broke back off again.
DeleteMy understanding is that there is a handful of parishes with him as evidenced by the couple dozen priests that showed up to his council.
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ReplyDelete"...It shows how divided Ukr is East and West and how very much the MP isnt going away..."
ReplyDeleteThis is right. You don't have to dig very far into Ukrainian history and culture to understand that the Ukraine is a "divide" between East and West (ecclesiastically and culturally) as a whole and within it there is a divide between the east and west. The irony of the MP's position (and thus its "failure") is that it wants to impose a Russian-ness (culturally and ecclesiastically) upon the Ukraine from the outside, and yet it accuses the EP of popish/roman motivations. The EP is merely recognizing the ethno-national ecclesiology of Orthodoxy in the Ukraine - the EP is applying the status quo.
In other words, welcome to "jurisdictionalism", welcome to the future. Actually, welcome to the present - the actual ontology of Orthodoxy while everyone talks much about conciliarity.
Hello Jake, this has some truth but more a Pan-Slavism than just Russian-ness. In my visits the MP seems to have patriotic symbols (ie flags, mostly Ukr born priests and parishes with Ukr language programs in the west (though Slavonic in liturgy). There is also a sense among people I spoke to that the MP was less political (ie nationalistic) than the OCU. Some see that as desirable (putting Christ first) and others angry at failing Ukrainians at their darkest hour.
DeleteIts a good question whether a separate language group/state/ethnic group needs its own church, one that has big implications here in the West/Macedonia/Hertzagrova that I feel hasn't been solved satisfactorily. Definitely EP and MP disagree.
If this is a "success" I am not sure what a "failure" would look like.
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