Metropolitan Epifaniy thanks Patriarch of Alexandria for recognizing OCU

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epifaniy, has thanked the Patriarch of Alexandria for recognizing the autocephaly of the OCU.

The head of the OCU said that Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and all Africa mentioned his name for the first time as the Primate of the Orthodox Church in the diptych of Orthodox Churches on November 8 during the service in the Church of the Archangels in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

"For our Churches, it was a truly historic moment of unity in prayer: today, at the same time, I celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica in the village of Buzova, Kyiv region, at which I also prayed and commemorated the Patriarch of Alexandria. Therefore, on this wonderful day, we rejoice in the completion of full-fledged fraternal unity between our local Churches," Metropolitan Epifaniy noted.

The Patriarchate of Alexandria is one of the four oldest historical Orthodox Patriarchates and one of the most authoritative in the Orthodox world, it ranks second after the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the diptych – the traditional list of local Orthodox Churches. The OCU, as the last Church created, has the last, 15th place in the diptych.