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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting with Metropolitan Emmanuel, the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

Flurry of developments relating to the Kyiv Lavra

By Webmaster on August 11, 2023 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, who has been the key representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate with respect to Ukraine since 2018, has now arrived in Kyiv. On August 10, the Metropolitan met with President Zelinsky. https://www.president.gov.ua/news/volodimir-zelenskij-zustrivsya-z-predstavnikom-vselenskogo-p-84813. According to the President’s website, attention was paid at the meeting to “the spiritual independence of Ukraine, the discussion of the Ukrainian peace formula, as well as the issue of the return of children illegally deported from our country.” A short video of the meeting can be accessed at https://orthodoxtimes.com/elder-metropolitan-of-chalcedon-met-metropolitan-of-kiyv-and-president-of-ukraine-video/ The video shows that Viktor Yelensky, the head of DESS, was…

Worshippers take part in an Orthodox worship service at Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Photo AFP, Yuriy Dyachyshyn

Ukrainian initiative wants to reconcile UOC and OCU

By Webmaster on February 27, 2023 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Christian Network Europe During an inter-church discussion, representatives of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church concluded that it would be best to re-unite both denominations. Therefore, they recommend renewed cooperation. “It is crucial to preserve the spiritual unity of the Ukrainian people, the origins of which go back to the ancient Kyiv Orthodox tradition”, the clergy write in a statement, as reported by Risu.ua. They drafted the document during a so-called inter-church dialogue that took place in the St Sophia Church in Kyiv, as reported by Orthodox Times. Dialogue To achieve unity, the clergy propose…

Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. Photo: fondsk.ru

Greek Professor: Phanar created OCU to unite with Catholics

By Webmaster on February 20, 2020 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Union of Orthodox Journalists Elena Konstantinova According to the Greek professor Kyriakos Kyriazopoulos, an experiment is underway to papalize Ukraine through the “autocephalous church” led by Epiphany. Kyriakos Kyriazopoulos, a professor of church law at the Law Faculty of Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, believes that the Patriarchate of Constantinople has created the OCU with the aim of ecumenically uniting Catholicism with the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches. It is reported by Pravoslavie.ru with reference to the Greek site Oukraniko. According to Kyriakos Kyriazopoulos, the goal of creating the OCU led by Epiphany is “to weaken the Moscow Patriarchate to enable the unification of Ukrainian Uniates…

A lot depends on the word of Archbishop Ieronymos now. Photo: UOJ

Will Archbishop Ieronymos pronounce Orthodoxy-splitting words?

By Webmaster on October 17, 2019 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Union of Orthodox Journalists Konstantin Shemliuk The decisions of the Council of the Greek Church can be interpreted either way. Only commemoration of Epiphany will tell if tectonic shifts are to begin in Orthodoxy. The decision of the Council of Bishops of the Greek Church on Ukrainian autocephaly stirred up commotion throughout Orthodox world. A lot of bishops, priests and lay people, as well as the media perceived it as recognition of the OCU by the Hellenic Church. From various sources it became known that only 7 (according to other information, 12) out of 69 hierarchs disagreed to the decision of the Council…

Archbishop Ieronymos with Metropolitan Epiphanius. Photo: Romfea

Greek Orthodox Church recognizes OCU

By Webmaster on October 12, 2019 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Union of Orthodox Journalists Yekaterina Filatova Abp. Ieronymos in his report referred to the two committees created by the Holy Synod to investigate the Ukrainian issue, which both recommended recognizing the OCU. The Bishops’ Council of the Greek Orthodox Church, gathered in an extraordinary session today, has resolved to recognize the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” (OCU), which was previously recognized only by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which created the new structure last December, reports “Romfea”. It is noted that during the meeting, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece made a report “The Autocephaly of the Church of Ukraine”, in which…

U.S. Chargé d'Affaires a.i. in Ukraine William Taylor and Epiphany Dumenko. Photo: pomisna.info

Epiphany and US Charge d’Affaires in Ukraine Discuss Recognition of OCU

By Webmaster on October 4, 2019 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Union of Orthodox Journalists Elena Konstantinova Epiphany Dumenko told US Chargé d’Affaires in Ukraine William Taylor how the process of formation and recognition of the OCU is going on. On October 3, 2019, the head of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko met with US Chargé d’Affaires a.i. in Ukraine William Taylor, reports the official website of the newly formed religious structure reports. In particular, according to the press service of the OCU, Dumenko “told Mr. Taylor about the latest events in the religious life in Ukraine”. In addition, Dumenko informed the American Ambassador on how the “process of the formation of the OCU and…

Metropolitan Kipriyan of Stara Zagora and Patriarch Bartholomew in April 2019. Photo: romfea.gr

Bulgarian Hierarch Forbidden to Serve in Turkey for His Position on OCU

By Webmaster on October 3, 2019 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Union of Orthodox Journalists Elena Konstantinova Patriarch Bartholomew did not allow Metropolitan Kipriyan to serve in the church of Sts Constantine and Helena in Adrianople. Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople did not allow Metropolitan Kipriyan of Stara Zagora of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to perform the Divine Liturgy in the church of Saints Constantine and Helena of the Bulgarian community in the city of Adrianople in Turkey, the Greek site Romfea reports. The publication notes that the Bulgarian community of the city of Adrianople is under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, thus permission and blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarchate must be…

The current behavior of Patriarch Bartholomew is strongly reminiscent of the actions of Filaret in 1992. Photo: SPJ

A Path of Schism: Will Patriarch Bartholomew Share the Fate of Filaret?

By Webmaster on September 27, 2019 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Union of Orthodox Journalists Taras Rebikov Will the Local Churches decide to convene a Pan-Orthodox Council and what will it entail for Phanar and Ukraine? Nine months have passed since the day when Phanar recognized the Ukrainian schismatics. Over this time, several things became apparent. Firstly, the Tomos not only failed to heal the split in Ukraine, but exacerbated it even more. Secondly, it caused a split within the existing secession. Thirdly, the Tomos can now be called one of the main reasons for a hypothetic pan-Orthodox split (in addition to the power-hungry Patriarch Bartholomew and Phanar as a whole). The…

Metropolitan” Mikhail of Lutsk and Volhynia with an entourage from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU)

SACRED COMMUNITY OF MOUNT ATHOS PROTESTS ACTIONS AND VISIT OF SCHISMATIC UKRAINIAN “METROPOLITAN”

By Webmaster on July 2, 2019 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Orthodox Christianity [Mount Athos, July 2, 2019] The Sacred Community of Mount Athos was offended by the actions of a delegation from the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” (OCU), led by “Metropolitan” Mikhail of Lutsk and Volhynia. They expressed their indignation in a letter to the Greek Foreign Minister George Katrougalos, as the Greek news agency Romfea reports. According to Romfea, the Holy Community protested in their letter the “provocative energy” of “Metropolitan Mikhail” and his entourage, who among other things, were holding Ukrainian flags and singing the Ukrainian national anthem. Romfea cites the letter of the Holy Community[1]: “This action…

Ex-US Ambassador to Ukraine, US Ambassador to Greece Jeffrey Payette

Tactics of double standards: how USA interferes in life of Orthodox Church

By Webmaster on March 9, 2019 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Union of Orthodox Journalists by Konstantin Shemliuk What is behind the concern of US officials about the rights of the Orthodox? At the Athens conference on disinformation and news manipulation held on March 5, the ex-US Ambassador to Ukraine and now the Ambassador to Greece Jeffrey Payette made a strong statement about Russia’s efforts to undermine the authority of Patriarch Bartholomew: ”We’ve seen evidence of this kind of manipulation of information in Greece. We’ve seen Russian efforts in the Church, the efforts to undermine the role of the Ecumenical Patriarch.” He particularly stressed that “the purpose of this event tonight is to…

Serbian Church publishes an official statement on the situation in Ukraine

By Webmaster on February 28, 2019 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Union of Orthodox Journalists by Tatyana Chaika Serbian Church published an official statement on the situation in Ukraine The official statement emphasizes that the only Church that the Serbian Patriarchate recognizes in Ukraine is the canonical UOC. The full translation of the document, published by the Press and Mass Media Bureau of the Serbian Orthodox Church, is available on the DECR website of the Russian Orthodox Church. The text of the document below is given in full. As far back as in November last year, the Serbian Orthodox Church was the first among the autocephalous Orthodox Churches to react officially, at the highest…

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Browsing: OCU