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Source: Public Orthodoxy Dr. Sergii Bortnyk Director of the ‘Academic Initiative’ Charitable Foundation (Kyiv, Ukraine) Recent weeks have been quite intense in Ukraine’s religious sphere. Undoubtedly, the most resonant event was the adoption of Bill No. 8371 by the Ukrainian Parliament on August 20. In its latest version, it was titled “On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Activities of Religious Organizations,” but it is informally known as the “law banning the UOC (Ukrainian Orthodox Church).” The bill’s adoption was demanded by a significant number of opposition deputies, particularly from the “European Solidarity” party, led by former President…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…