On 10 July 2001 delegates of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) at a meeting in Kyiv signed a joint statement announcing that priests of the two Churches may celebrate the eucharistic liturgy together. This next step in the Churches’ ongoing efforts to create one Ukrainian Orthodox Church was signed by two UOC-KP bishops, four UAOC bishops and other leaders of the two Churches.
The statement declares that the two Churches are united in their confession of the Orthodox Faith and adherence to the ecclesiastical canons which regulate the life of the Orthodox Churches. Having this degree of unity already, the UOC-KP and UAOC were able to sign these official agreements regarding the eucharistic union of the Churches. It was also announced that there are no dogmatic or canonical obstacles to hierarchs of the two Churches (bishops, for example) celebrating the liturgy together. Celebrating the liturgy together and eucharistic communion is a significant sign of Church unity for the Eastern Churches.
Participants in the meeting made a request of the Church of Constantinople: after they unite at a local sobor (council), they seek to enter into eucharistic communion with Constantinople and to receive a decree regarding the autocephaly (independent governing status) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In addition to recognition from their Mother Church, the Patriarchate of Constantinople, they also seek acceptance from Orthodox Churches in other countries. These decisions were made as part of the preparations for an assembly of the various Orthodox Churches in Ukraine to be held in July which will consider the possibility of uniting Ukraine’s various Orthodox jurisdictions.
Materials for this article were taken from the official website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (www.kievpatriarch.org) and www.strana.ru. The original sources are in Russian, Ukrainian and partially in English.