Patriarch Filaret Presents His Vision of Unification With UAOC
In an interview on occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church which supported the necessity of autocephaly and the 90th anniversary of the All-Ukrainian Council of 1921 which proclaimed the establishment of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), the head of the Ukra
inian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate, Patriarch Filaret explained what, in his opinion, the meaning of those events and what his vision of the mechanism of unification of all the supporters of the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church is. According to him, the mechanism is simple and clear.
One of the questions was about the fact that Patriarch Filaret once was against UAOC and that allegedly it has been the obstacle for the unification.
Patriarch Filaret explained that he could not support the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church when Ukraine was not an independent state but a part of USSR.
“If I supported the Autocephalous Church in 60-s-80-s or even during the so-called perestroika, I would simply have been dismissed from the ministry and replaced by a person loyal to Moscow. Actually, eventually, they did so, but it was a different time, Ukraine was already independent and, therefore, they were not able to destroy the cause of autocephaly…I could not support autocephaly as long as I did not feel the support of the Church led by me and as long as Ukraine was not independent… Then, in 1989-1991, I really criticized UAOC, but I had a considerable reason for that. For, at that time, on the wave of patriotism, among many persons who were really loyal to autocephaly, a considerable number of unworthy careerists came to UAOC and began to progress quickly towards the leadership positions. But time showed who is who and sooner or later, the deceivers, such as Masendych, fell away from the Ukrainian Church.
At the same time, one can see now that it is thanks to the fact that many priests in Halychyna supported the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church, that it became possible to retain the presence and influence of Orthodoxy in that part of Ukraine at the time of renewal of the structures of the Greek Catholic Church. For at that time, many Ukrainian priests were tempted by arguments that a true Ukrainian patriot can be only Greek Catholic and that he Orthodox ones are servants of Moscow. Whereas the priests of UAOC and Kyivan Patriarchate in Halychyna were able to remain loyal to Orthodoxy and defend the Orthodox faith. And not only to preserve it but also to multiply, as a large number of new Orthodox churches were built in Halychyna, including many churches of UAOC. Honour and thanks to them for that,” explained the head of UOC-KP.
According to the patriarch, in the previous years, much dissent and mistrust was sowed to prevent unification of UAOC and the Kyivan Patriarchate. For the opponents of the autocephaly in Ukraine understand well what impetus for development such unification can give.
“UOC-Kyivan Patriarchate appeared in 1992 thanks to the unification of the supporters of autocephaly within UAOC and supporters of autocephaly within UOC. I accepted that unification sincerely. I think that representatives of the Kyivan Patriarchate will agree with me to say that both the revival of UAOC in 1989 and the election of the first Patriarch of Kyiv and All Ukraine, Mstyslav at the council of 1990 were parts of our mutual church history, important stages of the mutual struggle for Church independence,” said Patriarch Filaret.
The head of UOC-KP also called the mechanism of unification of all the supporters of the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church simple and clear.”
“I repeatedly said in the past and can repeat now: from our point of view, the mechanism of unification is simple and clear. It means that upon the unification, one retains what one has had. If a priest is a parish one, he remains the parish priest. Deans, as they are called in Galicia, remain in their positions. Bishops continue to govern the parishes they governed in the past. Whoever has held an outstanding position in the Church government, will retain that place after the unification. That is no one loses anything. On the contrary, those who unite, will gain something. For, let us speak openly, now, the Kyivan Patriarchate’s influence in the society is stronger than that of UAOC. Therefore, determined steps should be made towards each other without hesitation. We are ready to such steps and open to cooperation with everyone sharing and supporting the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.”
