Kyivan Orthodox Bishop Denies That He Became Traditionalist Catholic

According to the CMRI website, Bishop Yurchyk was accepted into the Catholic faith by Bishop Mark Pivarunas, CMRI, of the USA. The CMRI is not in communion with Rome and rejects the Second Vatican Council. The website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) repeated the story on 18 November 2002, and also Internet sites also covered it. In his statement of19 November 2002, posted on the site of the UOC-KP, Bishop Yurii denied the story. He called the publication of the UOC-MP “libel, targeted at discrediting not only my title of bishop, but also the whole Kyivan Patriarchate and the whole church.” “Concerning my contacts with heterodox churches in the USA, they really took place. However, there was no transfer to Catholicism on my part whatsoever… As the bishop of Donetsk, I maintain such contacts… and believe that this is a normal and civilized phenomenon. Regarding my ‘repentance’ of ‘schism’ or my acceptance of Catholic doctrines, this is inaccurate information. I was and remain a hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate,” reads the statement of Bishop Yurii Yurchyk. The site of the UOC-KP also reported that on 19 November at a session of that church’s Holy Synod a resolution was passed, at the request of Bishop Yurii Yurchyk, to designate an episcopal vicar for the Donetsk eparchy. Sources: www.cmri.org/yurchik.html, www.orthodox.org.ua, www.kievpatr.org.ua