Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate analyzed Metropolitan Volodymyr speech on the Russian Orthodox Church Synod

Representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) analyzed the report of the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan), at the hierarchical council of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to Bishop Yevstratii (Zoria), on the whole the report makes a good impression, especially on the prepared reader. Bishop Yevstratii made a detailed analysis of the report in an article titled "Report of Metropolitan Volodymyr: In the Text and Between the Lines," published by the press service of the UOC-KP.

UOC-KP representatives noticed that it was not accidental that in his report, Metropolitan Volodymyr stressed the fact that the Tomos of 1990 did not give the Kyivan Metropolitanate anything new and temporary but "renewed the ancient tradition of the canonical existence of the Church of Kyivan Rus."

"From the beginning of his report, Metropolitan Volodymyr spoke about things which are not very pleasant for the current Patriarch of Moscow – about the special status of the UOC-MP within the ROC. The hierarch recalls the 20th anniversary of signing the Tomos on self-government, but what is important here is that he presents this event not as a concession of the external political circumstances of life of the collapsing USSR, which  the 'parade of sovereignties' experienced in the 1990s, but as the 'new historical stage in the life of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, which renewed the ancient tradition of the canonical life of the Church of Kyivan Rus.' It is not a secret that the pro-Kremlin party of 'bright residents of Odesa' led by Metropolitan Agafangel of Odesa has tried several times to push forward the idea that it is necessary for the UOC-MP to give up independence in government," reads Bishop Yevstratii's article.

Representatives of the UOC-KP paid special attention to the chapter "Church Schisms in Ukraine" of Metropolitan Volodymyr's report. The metropolitan's words "unfortunately, we have not been able so far to reach any noticeable success in overcoming church divides" are viewed by the UOC-KP as the right understanding by the head of UOC-MP of the fact that individual conversions "cannot solve the problem of schisms on the whole." Therefore, according to the bishop of the UOC-KP, the hierarch makes it clear that "he sees Moscow's plan of 'pulling over' the parishes of the UOC-KP to Moscow as unpromising."

The representatives of the UOC-KP also noted that when referring to the visits of the Patriarch of Moscow to Ukraine, Metropolitan Volodymyr "did not mention at all the ritual phrase about 'the Russian world' and 'unity of the Holy Rus.' The hierarch called prayer and the Eucharist communion the most important spiritual values of the patriarch's visits of to Ukraine."

"For some reason, it seems to me that the main addressee of the report was Patriarch Kirill, who, as a clever man, was to understand what was written between the lines. The metropolitan showed everyone by his report that he is not a puppet in the hands of the Moscow hierarch but the patriarch of a great church and that he has his own vision of its future, which is different from the one of Moscow. He showed in a few sentences that the problem of the church divide in Ukraine cannot be solved with Moscow's tactics of coersion and pressure. To make such a report, Metropolitan Volodymyr must the support of a considerable part of the Ukrainian bishopric, without which he would not make these rather bold statements. And this gives hope that the UOC-MP sees the church situation in a more sober and objective way than the 'bright residents of Odesa' or the Moscow Patriarchate, and that it understands that overcoming the Ukrainian Church divide is possible only by the way that was launched in October 2009 – the way of mutual approximation and unification around the Kyivan Throne," said Bishop Yevstratii.