Constantinople Works to Unite UOC-KP and UAOC

Filaret Denisenko and Mefody Kudriakov, who lead the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) respectively, agreed that they will conduct a joint worship service and they affirmed eucharistic fellowship between these church formations.

On 19 June there was a meeting of delegations of the UAOC and UOC-KP at which agreement was reached concerning concelebration by priests of both churches. On 13 June delegations of these church organizations enlisted the personal support of Patriarch Bartholomew, who blessed the creation in Ukraine of an autocephalous Ukrainian patriarchate, but he did not specify his point of view on the question of who should head it.

The next meeting of leaders of the UAOC and the UOC-KP, at which it is planned to solidify the eucharistic unity of these churches, should be held on 6 July.

According to the agreement reached at the Phanar, a special commission will be created, which is supposed to begin work on the fastest possible unification of the two Churches. This commission includes representatives of the hierarchies of both church structures: Metropolitan Andrei of Lviv, Archbishop Daniil of Rivno, Bishop Dimitry of Pereiaslavl-Khmelnitsky, Metropolitan Mefody of Ternopil, Metropolitan Andrei of Ivano-Frankivsk, and Bishop Makary of Lviv.

The commission will function under the aegis of Archbishop Vsevolod Skopelsky (Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA, Constantinople Patriarchate), who is supposed to inform Patriarch Bartholomew systematically about the course of unification of the churches.

It is obvious that the Constantinople patriarchate is aware of how obnoxious Filaret Denisenko is and it is trying to promote some other person for the post of head of the united church. It is quite evident that Patriarch Bartholomew sees "such a person" in Archbishop Vsevolod, although at the meeting at the Phanar he declined to give a straight answer to this question, replying that it is first necessary to resolve the problem of unification of the church and then to resolve the question of its head.

Archbishop Vsevolod's candidature is a compromise for both sides. Archbishop Vsevolod is known for his sympathies toward Eastern Catholics; he is a regular guest at synods of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and he thinks that the new united Ukrainian Orthodox Church should be in ecclesiastical fellowship with Rome and Constantinople.

The achievement of an agreement between the UOC-KP and UAOC is intended: first, to demonstrate to the Pope of Rome at the upcoming meeting with representatives of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches that it is they and not the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) who are the true Orthodox Church in Ukraine; second, to permit them to present to the Moscow Patriarchate an ultimatum at the meeting in Zurich on 15 July, in order to try to force Moscow to recognize their parallel jurisdiction in Ukraine. Responding to a question from strana.ru, the chief of staff of the UOC-MP, Bishop Mitrofan, noted, "Unfortunately, the Patriarch of Constantinople has established contact with these schismatic groupings, ignoring the opinion of our church. Our bishops sent the Patriarch of Constantinople a letter in which was expressed the opinion of Patriarch Alexis II that the Constantinople church is interfering in the affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church and is making direct contacts with schismatics. If the Ecumenical Patriarch wishes to take part in our internal affairs in Ukraine, this will surpass by several times the situation which has developed in Estonia."

Bishop Mitrofan thinks that the agreement between the UAOC and the UOC-KP was supposed to have been signed in the presence of and with the participation of a delegation from the Moscow Patriarchate. "It turns out that Constantinople, despite all agreements, is conducting a unilateral policy. Any unilateral interference by Constantinople in the internal affairs of the Ukrainian Church will cause harm to Orthodoxy not only in Ukraine but also to world Orthodoxy as a whole," the bishop stressed. (tr. by PDS, posted 24 June 2001)