Situation is alarming but not critical, Ihor Kozlovsky comments on Filaret’s intentions

Religious historian Ihor Kozlovsky believes that holding a closed-door assembly by Patriarch Emeritus Filaret is not a schismatic act in itself and will have no legal consequences for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

He said it on Channel 5. “One cannot say it was something unexpected – I was watching him [Bishop Filaret – ed.] when he was the Kyivan Metropolitan of the Moscow Patriarchate for almost 40 years. This person is powerful, ambitious, has a great experience. But the same positive features can become negative.

He sees himself and his vision of the development of Orthodoxy in Ukraine coincides with the model of the Moscow Patriarchate. We understand that the person had grown up there, was part of it, participated in the development of the Moscow Patriarchate,” explains Kozlovsky.

According to the religious scholar, Patriarch Emeritus Filaret is unaware and does not recognize any other model.

“He really did a great job, and he should be respected for that, but now the OCU, which integrates different branches of Orthodoxy, is in its making. It is a working process, definitely, it cannot be fast, no one expects them to unite at once,” said Kozlovsky.

He has noted that it is important for the Church to create its own Ukrainian model.

The religious scholar also added that the requirement not to put Bishop Filaret at the head of the OCU was reasonable.

"He is known far beyond Ukraine, and the Ecumenical Patriarch understands the danger to the development of the Church,” Kozlovsky said. According to him, the situation is currently alarming for the development of the Church, but manageable.