Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanych), chancellor of the UOC-MP, commented on the recognition of the OCU by the Church of Cyprus.
The hierarch of the UOC-MP advises waiting for official data and the reaction of other hierarchs of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus.
"If this information still corresponds to reality (recognition of the OCU - Ed.), then it should be emphasized that what happened is not the position of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, which is represented only by its Synod, but only by the sole decision of one person. Even the one that is endowed with the power of the Primate," the Metropolitan said in a comment published on the Orthodox Life website.
According to the OCU chancellor, the recognition of the OCU took place under the dictation of the "powerful".
"Fourth, it should be noted that the interests of politics and geopolitics continue to interfere in the affairs of the Church. Unfortunately, the victim of such a process is both the general unity of world Orthodoxy and individual Orthodox Churches. After all, some decisions made under the dictation of the powerful and factors far from faith in God do not lead to the healing of the schism. On the contrary, they provoke only new divisions. And this will have severe consequences. As St. John Chrysostom said, "to cause division in the Church is just as big evil as to fall into heresies..." he noted.
Earlier, Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanych) of the UOC-MP stated that the process of recognizing the OCU by other local Churches had been suspended.