Autocephaly for Ukraine: what Constantinople really decided - ForumDaily
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Autocephaly for Ukraine: what Constantinople really decided

In response, the ROC promised to sever relations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Photo: facebook.com/petroporoshenko

On Thursday, following a three-day meeting, the Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate in Istanbul satisfied the request for the granting of autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

“This is a great victory of the God-loving Ukrainian people over Moscow demons, a victory of good over evil, light over darkness,” Petro Poroshenko pathetically commented on the results of this meeting.

“For such actions, anathema (excommunication) should be imposed on Bartholomew,” the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate responded to the news from Istanbul.

Finishing line

Meetings of the Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople are held monthly in the residence of the Patriarch - a large wooden house near the old Greek Church of St. George.

Big news was expected from the October synod because this meeting was preceded by three weeks of work in Ukraine by exarchs - special representatives of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

Their activities were shrouded in mystery: in all this time, they never spoke to journalists, holding meetings with representatives of Ukrainian churches and authorities behind closed doors.

At the end of last week, at one of the last such meetings - with Verkhovna Rada Speaker Andrei Parubiy - the exarchs said that the process of granting autocephaly to Ukraine had reached the home stretch.

However, journalists recalled that the Exarchs made the same statement on the first day of their work, meeting with President Petro Poroshenko. I wonder how many more turns are left on this final straight, they joked.

Photo: facebook.com/petroporoshenko

Nevertheless, sources in Kiev asserted: by the October synod, the exarchs held all the necessary meetings and prepared a report on their work.

Just consideration of this report by the synod and the decision on its results could become the most important step towards Ukrainian autocephaly.

Exacerbation

The importance of the historical moment generated a general nervousness in the Ukrainian social networks.

For two days before the announcement of the results of the synod, fake news was widely spread here that Ukraine had received the coveted decision on autocephaly - and thousands of users rejoiced at this.

Then there were reports that Constantinople had postponed this decision until the “appropriate time,” which gave the same users grounds to accuse the patriarchy of “zrada” (betrayal).

This nervousness was sometimes felt in the seemingly inconspicuous courtyard near the Church of St. George, the seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. About three dozen journalists were waiting here for the results of the synod’s work—more Ukrainian, less Russian.

Media workers from Kiev and Moscow took two different corners of the court yard of the patriarchate and practically did not communicate with each other.

Sometimes it came to quarrels: for example, when someone from the Russians tried to get from Exarch Daniel the answer to the question whether the situation in Ukraine could be aggravated after giving her autocephaly.

The exarch himself ignored this question, but one of the Ukrainian journalists emotionally promised the Russians: “This will be an aggravation for you now.”

Only the representatives of Constantinople seemed to be calm in this situation.

 

“Be patient. Relax and calm down. The Synod works behind closed doors, everything is God’s will,” the content of all the comments of the BBC’s interlocutors from the local patriarchate about the work of the synod boiled down to approximately this.

And even when in the last hours of the Synod’s work the Greek media began to report on its first results, the staff of the Patriarchate only shrugged their shoulders: the synod, they say, continues, have patience.

Therefore, the appearance of one of the most influential hierarchs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Metropolitan Emmanuel of Gallia, to the press, accompanied by the patriarchal exarchs, was greeted by everyone as the long-awaited culmination of three days of intense anticipation - even despite the fact that Emmanuel refused to answer questions from journalists.

The statement read out by him and provoking a strong reaction in Kiev and Moscow contained five points.

1. Autocephaly

In a statement, the synod confirmed that the Patriarchate of Constantinople had begun the procedure for granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian church.

Such statements had previously been heard from the representatives of Constantinople, including from Patriarch Bartholomew himself, but for the first time such unambiguous wording is contained in the decision of the synod, which, in fact, is authorized to decide on the granting of autocephaly.

This right is actively challenged by Moscow, which believes that Constantinople cannot grant autocephaly to anyone without the prior consent of all existing Orthodox churches.

In Constantinople, the position of the Russian Church is philosophical: the question of who can provide autocephaly and how was studied in detail at the Sinax (bishops' council) in September of this year, and its participants came to the conclusion that the canonical right gives the Constantinople Patriarchate such an opportunity.

It is another matter that in Constantinople they are well aware of the consequences for autocratic granting Ukrainian Orthodoxy the consequences for world Orthodoxy.

“This is a historical moment for Ukraine, it’s true. But this is also a historical moment for Constantinople, which is laying the foundation of a new autocephalous church - a member of the Orthodox family,” one of the representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople told the BBC.

Nevertheless, the very procedure of granting autocephaly by Constantinople was until recently in all its details known, it seems, only to a rather narrow circle of initiates.

2. Stavropigiya

A stauropegy is an ecclesiastical institution independent of local ecclesiastical authorities and subordinate directly to the patriarch or synod. In our case - to Constantinople.

The decision of Constantinople to restore stauropegy in Ukraine - one of many that have always existed here, according to the authoritative theologian Kirill Govorun - means the restoration of the Kyiv Metropolis of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Some commentators believed that it was at its base that an independent Ukrainian church would be created in the future.

Now, the BBC interlocutors in Kiev and Constantinople believe that the further process of the design of this church will look like this.

First, the hierarchs of the unrecognized Ukrainian churches and the bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate who wish to join them will hold a unifying council in Kiev, at which they will form a new church and elect its head.

Then the synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople will issue a tomos of autocephaly - a charter of independence, the founding document of this church, which will finally introduce it into the family of Orthodox churches.

The final stage in the granting of autocephaly to the Ukrainian church will be the handing over of a tomos by the representative of Constantinople to its head.

When this can happen depends primarily on how quickly the Ukrainian hierarchs - participants in the future council in Kyiv - will be able to settle formalities and settle mutual claims.

3. Anathema

Constantinople restored the canonical rights of the heads of Ukrainian non-canonical churches - the head of the autocephalous church Macarius and the head of the church of the Kyiv Patriarchate Filaret.

89-year-old Filaret in Kiev is called the most likely head of a church that has not yet been created: after all, it is people who come from the Kyiv Patriarchate who will make up the majority of the delegates of the founding council of the new church.

He could not take part in the election of the head of this church due to the anathema (excommunication from the church) imposed on him by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1997 just for trying to create an independent Ukrainian church.

Back in the 1992 year, when Philaret was deprived of dignity, he sent a request to reconsider his case to the Patriarch of Constantinople, who considers himself the highest appellate court of world Orthodoxy.

Over the following years, the appeal of Filaret was repeatedly supplemented, they say the BBC in the Kyiv Patriarchate.

Technically, Patriarch Bartholomew could have considered Filaret’s appeal at any time: it is within his personal authority, told the BBC in Constantinople.

The solution to the “Filaret problem” right now, apparently, shows how much the process of granting autocephaly to Ukrainian Orthodoxy has approached the finish line.

Who is now Philaret, reinstated in his rights, before being deprived of dignity and anathematized was the Kiev metropolitan?

The BBC interlocutor in Constantinople asks not to go deep into the jungle of canon law.

“Consider him an Orthodox hierarch,” he says.

Filaret himself answers this question a little differently.

“I was the patriarch, I am and will be,” he said at a specially convened press conference in Kyiv on Thursday evening.

Be that as it may, it is the third part of the decision of the Constantinople Synod that some interlocutors of the BBC call the most important: it restores communication with world Orthodoxy not only to the heads of the unrecognized churches Philaret and Macarius, but also to their followers, who found themselves in a split not for dogmatic reasons .

The speech here, apparently, is about millions of Ukrainian believers who consider themselves to be parishioners of unrecognized confessions, who in the eyes of canonical Orthodox have been schismatics up to this point, and who could, for example, refuse to marry or funeral priests of the Moscow Patriarchate.

4. 1686 events of the year

One of the fundamental differences between Constantinople and Moscow was the 1686 events of the year.

Moscow believes that at that time Constantinople, already under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, transferred the Kyiv Metropolis - which actually included the territories of present-day Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and Lithuania - to the jurisdiction of the Russian Church.

A letter from 1686 of the year finally turned Ukraine into the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church, they say in Moscow.

In Constantinople, in turn, declare that then it was only about the transfer of some powers to the Russian Church to manage church life in those territories.

“Constantinople has never recognized permission to transfer the territories of Ukraine to anyone,” Patriarch Bartholomew said in July.

Moreover, they say in Constantinople, soon the conditions for the transfer of the Kiev metropolis were grossly violated by Moscow, it annexed the territory of Ukraine.

Therefore, they say in Constantinople, any claims of the Russian Church to the leading role in solving the Ukrainian question are unfounded.

They say in Moscow that they have found hundreds of pages of ancient documents in the archives, proving that in 1686, it was a full and indefinite transfer of Kiev to the jurisdiction of the Russian Church, and they are proposing to hold an international historical conference on this issue.

In Constantinople, they did not reject plans to hold such a conference. However, at a meeting of the synod, they decided to revoke the obligations arising from the letter 1686 of the year, in fact, once again confirming that they consider Ukraine their canonical territory.

5. Call to refrain from violence

One of Moscow’s key arguments in the discussion about the admissibility of granting independence to the Ukrainian church is that such a step will lead to religious conflicts and mass seizures of churches in Ukraine.

The Synod of the Patriarch of Constantinople called on all parties involved to refrain from forcibly seizing church objects, other acts of violence and revenge.

Petro Poroshenko addressed the Ukrainian people with a similar appeal on Thursday evening.

“As soon as you see people calling for a monastery, monastery or temple to be taken by force, you know that these are Moscow agents. Because the Kremlin’s goal is to incite a religious war in Ukraine,” he said.

In Kiev, ecclesiastical and political circles expect a mass outflow of parishioners of the Moscow Patriarchate to a new independent church after its finalization, but they hope that this process will be peaceful.

Several influential hierarchs of the Moscow Patriarchate have in recent weeks predicted provocations directed against their church and even named a specific date - October 14.

On this day, Defender of the Fatherland Day is celebrated in Ukraine, which is also considered the founding day of the nationalist underground of the Second World War - the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

On this day, thousands of nationalists spend marches in the center of Kiev.

Answer of the Russian Church

While Ukrainian social networks are filled with calls to celebrate the Tomos by going to the Independence Square on Friday evening, the Russian Church, through the words of the head of the synodal department for relations between the church and society and the media, Vladimir Legoyda, called the decision of the Constantinople Synod “an unprecedented anti-canonical action.”

“The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church will give a proper assessment of this action at its next meeting on October 15 in Minsk,” Legoyda added.

The conflict between the Russian Church and Constantinople entered an acute phase after Constantinople announced in early September that its exarchs were sent to Ukraine.

Even then, Moscow declared the illegality of this step and partially broke off relations with Constantinople.

Фото: Depositphotos

Now, obviously, we may be talking about a complete cessation of Eucharistic communion between these churches - this possibility was previously spoken about by some representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, who predicted that granting autocephaly to Ukraine could even lead to a split in Orthodoxy at the global level.

Nevertheless, the BBC interlocutors in Kiev and in Constantinople pay attention to the fact that there is no mass support for Moscow’s statements from other Orthodox churches.

“Constantinople acts in accordance with canon law. And the threat that Moscow will sever relations... Would you forcefully detain a family member who voluntarily decided to live separately? But I hope and pray that this does not happen,” a source from Constantinople tells the BBC.

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