Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church Decides To Discontinue Communication With Kyivan Patriarchate

At the Council of 9 February, the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) decided to terminate communication with the leadership of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) until it elects another patriarch. So reported Kommersant-Ukraine

After the session of the Council, the Head of UAOC, Metropolitan Mefodii stated that he will wait for Patriarch Filaret “to change his mind or retire because of old age.”

“We hoped for a brotherly dialogue, but the adherents of UOC-KP, for instance in Ivano-Frankivsk, spread leaflets calling the priests of UAOC not to obey their hierarchs and transfer to Filaret at that time,” he stated.

According to him, UOC-KP is a “political organization and its Patriarch a politico.” “Filaret is outside the canonical Orthodoxy and he is dragging us to a place where the Church will decay,” said the metropolitan.

He added that UAOC is ready to admit individual priests and bishops of UOC-KP as “most of them desire one Church.”

The statements of Metropolitan Mefodii provoked indignation of representatives of UOC-KP. “Our Church is unified and, of course, no one will transfer to UAOC,” said the Secretary of the Holy Synod of UOC-KP, Archbishop Yevstratii (Zoria).

According to him, UOC-KP “will continue the dialogue with individual bishops and priests of UAOC who seek the unification of the Churches.”