English Wall

Ucraina "Stop and go" in Kyiv today (a cura Redazione "Il sismografo")

Dettagli: Creato: 10 Dicembre 2018; Hits: 1663

(Peter Anderson) On the road to the unifying council in Kyiv next Saturday, one must fasten one’s seatbelt because of the many twists and turns. Today, Monday, was a good example. In the morning, Filaret, the head of the UOC-KP, was

interviewed by the Ukrainian television channel TSN as he left St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. Filaret stated that the two major issues now dividing the UOC-KP and the Ecumenical Patriarchate are the latter’s insistence that priests and laypersons as well as bishops be able to participate in the council and that the votes be by secret ballots. On the other hand, the UOC-KP insists that only bishops be allowed to vote and that voting not be done by secret ballot. With respect to these differences, Filaret indicated that there would be no flexibility on the part of the UOC-KP. He stated:

The Kyiv Patriarchate is the largest church. And it depends on us, [whether] we will accept what is demanded from us, [or] will not accept it. If it is beneficial to us, we will accept. If it is not beneficial to us, either the state or the church, will we simply not cast a vote, reject.

The Greek website Romfea.gr went so far as to state that this “bomb” was “setting fire to the foundations” of the council. https://www.romfea.gr/epikairotita-xronika/25639-bomba-filaretou-an-den-mas-ofelei-den-tha-psifisoume-stin-enotiki-sunodo Also a few days earlier, Filaret had stated: “I will be patriarch until death.” https://www.unian.net/politics/10367700-v-obedinitelnom-sobore-po-sozdaniyu-edinoy-pomestnoy-pravoslavnoy-cerkvi-v-ukraine-primut-uchastie-bolee-50-arhiereev-filaret.html

However, later today, Archbishop Yevstraty (Zorya) of Chernigov and Nezhin (UOC-KP) made a much more conciliatory “official” commentary which was first posted on his Facebook page and then on the official website of the UOC-KP. https://www.cerkva.info/posts/u-kyivskomu-patriarkhati-hotuiutsia-do-soboru-ofitsiinyi-komentar Archbishop Yevstraty is the head of the UOC-KP information department and also secretary of the UOC-KP Holy Synod.

1. The Kyiv Patriarchate is preparing for the Council and intends to take part in it.

2. According to the blessing of His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the bishops, clergy, monks and laymen will participate in the work of the Council.

3. The availability of proposals from the Kyivan Patriarchate for the Rules of the Council or the procedure for the election of the primate does not mean that, in the end, there will not be a common vision agreed. As members of the Council, we obviously have the right to make our proposals, to argue and to support them.

From the second paragraph, it appears that the UOC-KP is agreeing with the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s position that priests, monastics, and laypersons can participate in the council.

Some background information may be helpful. As you recall, the letter from the Ecumenical Patriarch to the Ukrainian bishops specified that each of them should bring with them to the council one priest and one monastic or layperson and that each of the three would have a vote to narrow the field of candidates to three. Thereafter, on December 6, the UOC-KP Holy Synod adopted a resolution taking the position that only Ukrainian bishops should be able to vote with the results determined by “open” support. https://www.cerkva.info/church/zhurnal-zasidannia-sviashchennoho-synodu-6-hrudnia-2018-r On Sunday, Andreas Loudaros, the head of the website Orthodoxia.info, charged that Filaret’s insistence on an open vote solely by bishops was an attempt to ensure that Filaret’s views prevailed in the election.

Assuming that a large number of UOC-MP bishops will not come to the council, it is clears that the forty plus bishops of the UOC-KP will constitute a majority of the bishops at the council. One can imagine a scenario where Filaret obtains a commitment at the UOC-KP council of bishops held on December 13 for all of the bishops to vote for a certain candidate for primate. If the voting at the unifying council is not secret, it is unlikely for any of these UOC-KP bishops to vote publicly for a different candidate. On the other hand, if the voters at the unifying council also include priests, monastics, and laypersons and all voting is done by secret ballot, it is much more difficult for Filaret to control how the ballots are cast. https://orthodoxia.info/news/%CE%B5%CF%80%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%AF%CE%BD%CE%B4%CF%85%CE%BD%CE%BF%CE%B9-%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%B9%CE%B3%CE%BC%CE%BF%CE%AF-%CE%B1%CF%80%CF%8C-%CF%84%CE%BF%CE%BD-%CF%80-%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%BA%CF%81%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%AF/?fbclid=IwAR21MnbC5sfZG651UHXSgSbubB0R9Nr6R110Rlz28qdUAUz6Gm4bW99kzEY

I personally believe that the Ecumenical Patriarchate desires that the unifying council not be dominated by the UOC-KP and would welcome a primate who was not a UOC-KP bishop. The other Local Orthodox Churches would probably be more willing to recognize and associate with a primate who had not been a part of a schismatic church. There is also the problem with respect to episcopal ordination. For example, 41 year-old Archbishop Yevstraty, whom Filaret appears to favor, received both his priestly and episcopal ordination, in the UOC-KP. The validity of his ordination depends on the validity of the episcopal orders of Filaret. A Local Orthodox Church, such as the Serbian Patriarchate, which rejects Constantinople’s rehabilitation of Filaret, would conclude that Yevstraty is not in fact a bishop. There would be less of a problem if the primate was a bishop from the UOC-MP, one of the two exarchs, or an archimandrite. If an archimandrite were elected primate, he would presumably receive his episcopal ordination by bishops of the Ecumenical Patriarchate following the election.

Yesterday, an interview of Metropolitan Makary, head of the UAOC, was posted. https://glavcom.ua/interviews/mitropolit-makariy-mi-vzhe-v-pidporyadkuvanni-vselenskiy-patriarhiji-tomu-sobor-majemo-provoditi-tak-yak-vona-skazhe-551999.html He stated that approximately 15 bishops of the UAOC will attend the unifying council. These bishops will hold a meeting the day before the council, December 14. On that day, they are also required to submit the names of the priests, monastics, and laypersons who will participate in the unifying council. He does not expect anyone from the UAOC to be nominated for primate. In general, it appears that Metropolitan Makary agrees with the actions taken by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

This afternoon, Metropolitan Hilarion was in the Georgia Republic to give to Patriarch Ilia relics of St. Tamar, who died in 1936. He also presented the Patriarch with documents reflecting the position of the Russian Church with respect to Ukraine. The Patriarch stated that he would examine both the documents presented by Metropolitan Hilarion and the materials provided by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. These will discussed at a meeting of the Holy Synod of the Georgian Patriarchate. http://patriarchate.ge/geo/saqartveloshi-wminda-aghmsarebel-tamaris-marjanishvili/ Yesterday, Patriarch Kirill delivered a strong address against the church being established by the schismatics in Ukraine as “the false church serving the devil.” http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5320216.html

In other news, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva has stated that it is “very likely” that Pope Francis will visit Bulgaria in May 2019. https://sofiaglobe.com/2018/12/07/foreign-minister-pope-francis-very-likely-to-visit-bulgaria-in-may-2019/