Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv - OCU a "success"

(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.

Comments

  1. WallaceJanuary 8, 2020 at 2:08 AM

    "...mission accomplished..."

    ReplyDelete
  2. MikailJanuary 8, 2020 at 6:31 AM

    The layman, Epiphany, is having delusions again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Michael LJanuary 8, 2020 at 10:41 AM

    The 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Samn!January 8, 2020 at 11:35 AM

      You have to add to that equation however many parishes Filaret broke back off again.

      Delete
    2. Michael LJanuary 8, 2020 at 1:20 PM

      My understanding is that there is a handful of parishes with him as evidenced by the couple dozen priests that showed up to his council.

      Delete
  4. JakeJanuary 8, 2020 at 11:50 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. JakeJanuary 8, 2020 at 12:00 PM

    "...It shows how divided Ukr is East and West and how very much the MP isnt going away..."

    This 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michael LJanuary 8, 2020 at 1:37 PM

      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.

      Its 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.

      Delete
  6. rhartscJanuary 10, 2020 at 12:18 PM

    If this is a "success" I am not sure what a "failure" would look like.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sr. Vassa: There's no ontological impediment to priestesses

Image
Is the male-only priesthood a discipline or essential to the nature of being a priest? Sr. Vassa (again unflinchingly taking up a contentious topic by climbing up the ladder to the highest platform and then jumping into the deep end head first) dives right in and says there is no reason beyond personal preference to not have female clergy. You know, when people ask me about women in priesthood, they say, 'Sister, why can't women be priests?' And I say, 'Women CAN be priests. We don't WANT them to be priests.' Because you see, God can do anything, and the Church, by divine authority, uh, can do anything, but, the Church doesn't want to - and that's a legitimate reason. What I don't like is when we TRY to pretend that there are other reasons for this, because it's legitimate not to want something, and there are reasons not to want this - right? - but, we shouldn't pretent that there's some... reason, that, for example, the maleness...
Read more

Big news for the Western Rite, ROCOR, and Bp. Jerome

Image
NEW YORK: July 12, 2013 ( ROCOR ) - An Extraordinary Session of the Synod of Bishops is Held On Wednesday, July 10, 2013, an extraordinary session of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was held, presided over by its First Hierarch, His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York. Participating in the meeting were permanent members of the Synod of Bishops: His Eminence Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany; His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America; His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada, and His Grace Bishop Peter of Cleveland, Administrator of the Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America. Deliberating on the matter of Bishop Jerome of Manhattan, the Synod of Bishops made a decision as follows: “During a meeting of the Synod of Bishops on Wednesday, July 10, 2013, presided over by the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, A DECISION WAS MADE: on the activities of Bishop Jerome of Ma...
Read more

OCA takes strong stand for canonical Orthodoxy

( Orthochristian.com ) - The primate of the Orthodox Church in America, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of Washington and All America and Canada, will concelebrate with the primate of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, in western Ukraine later this week. The Ukrainian Orthodox Diocese of Chernivtsi and Bukovina “awaits the visit of the primate of the Orthodox Church in America on June 1–2, 2024. Solemn services will be held in the Cathedral of the Descent of the Holy Spirit in Chernivtsi, with the participation of both primates.” The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America formally rejects communion with the schismatics of the “Orthodox Church in Ukraine,” recognizing only the canonical UOC under Met. Onuphry. The Ukrainian primate was the honored guest at the OCA’s 18th All-American Council in July 2015.
Read more