Synod Session of UOC Held Contrary to Primate's Decision

Contrary to the decision of the Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Volodymyr to cancel today’s session of the Holy Synod, which was convened by Metropolitan Ahafanhel of Odesa without the blessing of the primate, the members of the Synod gathered in Kyiv to hold consultations in view of the situation.

According to "Religion in Ukraine", Metropolitan Ahafanhel insisted on the coming of all the members of the Synod, he personally telephoned the eparchial bishops. Most of the members of the Synod gathered in Kyiv this morning and held a meeting where, according to the report, the following two main questions were discussed: possible liquidation of the Department of External Church Relations in order to exclude Metropolitan Volodymyr’s Secretary, Archbishop Oleksandr (Drabynko) who is a member of the Synod thanks to his position of the Head of the department. The participants also discussed the question of “incapability” of Metropolitan Volodymyr. Proposals were brought forward to set up a committee to make an authoritative decision in this regard or to pass a decision at once as to incapability of the metropolitan by using the internal Church resources (for instance, to refer to a decision of doctors in UOC, obtain a certificate from the Synod’s Committee on medicine without delay, etc.)  

According to the web site of UOC, after the meeting, the members of the Synod visited Metropolitan Volodymyr in the hospital, where he undergoes a rehabilitation course, and wished him quick recovery.