www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Ukrainian Orthodox confllicts deepen

Aloha Monday....everyone

I think that we need to pray for peace, unity and braddahhood and sisstahood because that is our Great Pontiff Pope John Paul da second is all about. We need to work for peace and not on division.

Ukrainian Orthodox confllicts deepen Kiev, Apr. 06 (CWNews.com) - Ukrainian Orthodox officials allied with the Moscow patriarchate staged a public demonstration in Kiev on April 6, to protest what they see as government interference in Orthodox Church affairs.

The Ukrainian Orthodox leaders organized a march through Kiev, past the presidential palace and parliament buildings, in response to reports that the government may government may hand over control of the renowned Monastery of the Caves to another, independent Orthodox group.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been split into competing groups in recent decades. After years of alliance with the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow, a Ukrainian Church leader, Metropolitan Filaret, broke away to set up the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kiev Patriarchate. That group now competes with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate for supremacy. A third, smaller, group, the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine, also commands the allegiance of some believers.

In the country's recent presidential elections, the Moscow patriarchate bitterly opposed the eventual winner, Viktor Yushchenko, whose ascent to power was welcomed by other religious groups in Ukraine. Now the Orthodox who remain faithful to Moscow charge that President Yushchenko is giving political preference to the Kiev patriarchate.

The problems of the Moscow patriarchate were compounded when a spokesman for the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople-- the acknowledged "first among equals" of the Orthodox world-- denied Moscow's claim that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate is the only legitimate canonical body in Ukraine.

Russian Orthodox leaders, along with the hierarchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, have bitterly protested the public statement by Archbishop Vsevolod, the US-based representative of Constantinople that other Orthodox bodies in Ukraine may have canonical standing. Characterizing the statement as "outrageous" and "inexplicable," they have demanded a retraction and apology from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. To date, the Patriarch of Constantinople has not responded.

For President Yushchenko, the deep divisions among Orthodox believers pose a serious dilemma. After decades of unquestioned pre-eminence, and unswerving allegiance to Russian leadership, the Moscow patriarchate is now challenged by an Orthodox movement that supports Ukrainian independence. While he has promised to remain impartial in religious disputes, Yushchenko may be forced to settle quarrels over the ownership of Orthodox Church properties, such as the Monastery of the Caves.

Dear Friends,

Whether Moscow likes it or not, the days of its imperial control of the Ukrainian Orthodox are numbered.

The future Ukrainian Orthodox Patriarchate in full communion with Constantinople will be an achieved reality in time.

Alex

Dear Alex,

Don't you mean that the EP will be so annoyed with the antics of the MP that he puts the KP above them?

Gaudior, wondering how many extra vodka bottles the MP would need to sell to make up for the loss of the revenue from the Caves Lavra...

Dear Gaudior,

I drink to your very good health!!

Alex

Orthodox Catholic posted:

> Whether Moscow likes it or not, the days of its
> imperial control of the Ukrainian Orthodox are
> numbered.

> The future Ukrainian Orthodox Patriarchate in
> full communion with Constantinople will be an
> achieved reality in time.

Given that Ukraine and Russia are separate sovereign states, it only makes sense that there be two separate autocephalous Churches; in czarist times, the Ukrainian Church was pretty much autonomous.

BUT, the KP's Patriarch, Philaret, who is, of course, a monk, married shortly after his splitting from MP, and has a family, although he still wears monastic garb. He has also ordained married men as bishops, which the Orthodox Church has prohibited from the sixth century.

A schism perpetrated by a monk who is married with a family will not be received well by the Orthodox Church. I can only conjecture that the KP is a schismatic group and, therefore, is muddling the eventual emergence of a legitimate autocephalous Ukrainian Church.

Photius (not a Slav; no personal baggage in this)

Dear Photius,

You are correct, undoubtedly.

I applaud your support for a canonically autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

I pray that both Ukrainian and Russian Churches will find the way to mutual understanding, respect and love in the future!

Alex

Aloha ,

I think that we just have to pray for peace ...as much as possible. Peace , unity , forgiveness and braddahood should be our mission.