Patriarch Emeritus Filaret confirms possibility of split in OCU

Former Primate of the UOC-Kyiv Patriarchate Filaret has complained that Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv communicates with him on very rarely. According to Patriarch Emeritus Filaret, a split may occur in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

He said this in an interview with the TSN, released on Sunday, May 12, according to DW. In particular, the hierarch noted that since the OCU was established, Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine had communicated with him no more than five times.

“Is it communication? The Church needs every day guidance, so there is no communication. And due to the lack of no communication, while it should be there, the church is divided, so as Patriarch I have a mission to preserve the Ukrainian Church,” he said.

Patriarch Emeritus Filaret also noted that he admits the possibility that the OCU may split.

“I admit such a possibility, but we will create the one Church,” he said. Filaret also said that he could convene the Church Council similarly to the Primate of the OCU.

Earlier, Filaret said that the Kyiv Patriarchate still exists because it can be liquidated by the one who had founded it. He also invited church officials to a so-called fraternal conversation on May 14, according to media reports, allegedly to discuss the prospect of the restoration of the Kyiv Patriarchate.

As RISU reported earlier, during the Unification Council of the OCU on December 15, 2018, in Kyiv, the then Patriarch of the UOC-KP Filaret personally signed the document on the dissolution of the Kyiv Patriarchate. The then Patriarch Filaret also convinced the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in writing that he would not claim to be the Primate of the newly created OCU.

The Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, which comprises the Department for Religious Affairs and Nationalities, issued a statement on May 10 that “statements about the alleged restoration of the activity of such a religious association in Ukraine as the UOC-KP are clearly untrue.”