Council of Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (Renewed) Begins in Kharkiv
On March 14, in the St. Dmytrii’s Catechetical-Pastoral Center of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the 22nd Eparchial Council of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) (registered as UAOC renewed) is to begin, the website of the eparchy reported.
The council’s agenda includes:
-Vocation for the ministry of priests and laymen and means of formation thereof (report of Fr. Volodymyr Chervonnykov),
-The mission of the Kharkiv-Poltava Eparchy in the establishment of one national Orthodox Church in Ukraine (report by Archbishop Ihor),
-Reports from deaneries (addresses of deans),
-Election of eparchial government bodies.
The council gathers all the clergymen of the Kharkiv-Poltava Eparchy, two representatives of lay people from each church community and each lay organization elected at the general meeting. They represent 27 parishes located in Kharkiv, Luhansk, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Kherson Regions, Kyiv, Mykolayiv and Moscow. The higher spiritual school, the Collegium of Patriarch Mstyslav, Kharkiv and Kirovograd Brotherhoods, ambulatory and library will also be represented.
The Kharkiv-Poltava Eparchy of the UAOC led by Archbishop Ihor Isichenko once separated from Metropolitan Mefodii (Kudriakov) accusing him of noncanonical actions and usurpation of power in the UAOC. The Eparchy of Archbishop Ihor functions as an autonomous structure among other Ukrainian Churches. It is registered in the state bodies as the UAOC (Renewed).
