The Moscow Patriarchate spoke out negatively again about the visit of Patriarch Bartholomew to Ukraine.
This time, Mykolai Danylevych, Deputy Head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, expressed his negative emotions on his Facebook page.
This is reported by Glavkom.
"After Patriarch Bartholomew outraged the church milieu of Ukraine with his intervention and the Tomos, and accordingly caused conflicts, violence and seizures of churches, it is an unwise and inappropriate idea for him to come here two years after the turbulent events, the consequences of which have lasted so far," Danylevych wrote.
He was angered by the fact that Metropolitan Emmanuel arrived in Kyiv from Istanbul on May 27 to prepare for Patriarch Bartholomew's visit to Ukraine.
It should be noted that Ukraine is looking forward to the visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and his participation in the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the country's independence.
"The state will do everything possible to ensure that the visit of the Ecumenical Patriarch to Ukraine takes place at the highest level," Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said during a meeting with Bishop of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedony.
As reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky invited Patriarch Bartholomew to Ukraine last fall. The latter confirmed his visit to our country. And in March of this year, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal conveyed a presidential invitation to Pope Francis to pay a visit to Ukraine on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the State Independence.
It should be noted that Patriarch Bartholomew does not recognize the MP in Ukraine and the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church over Kyiv, and simply considers its bishops to be bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
The MP opposed Bartholomew's visit to Ukraine, declaring a possible confrontation. The Russian Orthodox Church, which considers Ukraine its own canonical territory, contrary to church canons, does not recognize the decisions of the Ecumenical Patriarch and breaks ties with those churches or hierarchs that recognized the OCU.
The Moscow Patriarchate fears that after the visit of Patriarch Bartholomew to Ukraine, the churches of the Moscow church will be transferred to the local Church of Ukraine.