One day, the episcopate of the UOC-MP will realize its irreconcilable position and understand that not only two bishops had a chance on December 15, 2018, but almost all of them had a chance.
Metropolitan Dymytry of Lviv and Sokal of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine said this in an exclusive interview with Religiyna Pravda.
According to the Metropolitan, in 2018, no one rejected a broader association with the UOC-MP.
“I think that once the episcopate of the UOC-MP, or as the Russian Orthodox Church is now called in Ukraine, will realize its irreconcilable position and understand that not only two bishops had a chance on December 15, 2018, but almost all of them,” the Bishop said.
He noted that more than once the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epifaniy, declared the openness of the church, and openness means not only the declared opportunities of the church to be closer to people, but also to solve more specific issues – the problem of the unity of Ukrainian Orthodoxy.
"By the way, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew called for this during his visit to Ukraine, who claimed and invited "brothers in Christ, hierarchs in this country, their clergy and believers who do not communicate with us in the church to reconsider this position".
Within the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, we still need to work hard for comprehensive understanding and knowledge. We need a deeper understanding that nothing separates us anymore, but on the contrary, the opportunities in which the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, headed by its Primate, His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy, operates are its real highlight now in order to promote the idea of the unity of Ukrainian Orthodoxy,” Metropolitan Dymytry said.