Patriarch of Constantinople signed Tomos on the independence of the Ukrainian church

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew signed a document that provides independence for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, confirming its canonicity. Tomos was signed on January 5 in the Patriarchal Church of St. George on the territory of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

The presentation of the signed document to the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (PCU) Metropolitan Epiphanius will take place on the morning of January 6, writes “Currently,".

On January 7, Tomos will be put on public display in the Refectory Church of the St. Sophia Cathedral, where the head of the independence-based PCU Epiphanius will hold a Christmas liturgy.

The delegation, which visited Istanbul to attend the celebrations on the signing of Tomos, included the current president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, and his wife, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, Andrei Paruby, several ministers, and the third president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko.

Poroshenko said that the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church would unite the Ukrainian people, but at the same time guaranteed the observance in Ukraine of religious freedom for believers of all denominations.

The head of Ukraine also presented the Ecumenical Patriarch with the Order of Merit, 1st degree, for his outstanding personal contribution to the development of the autocephalous local Orthodox Church of Ukraine, increasing the authority of Orthodoxy in the world and many years of activity in promoting the ideals of spirituality.

What is Tomos and what are the features of the document received by Ukraine

The tomos is a church document. Previously, tomos were decrees that were issued for various reasons, but in the last few centuries tomos became the declaration of independence of the church of a particular region. It is on the basis of the tomos that the new church forms its own charter.

In Orthodoxy, there are now 15 independent churches - without Ukrainian there were 14. Some of them were formed in antiquity, some - became independent relatively recently, separated from the ancient churches. Tomos has only separated eight churches.

If we compare the tomos of the Ukrainian church with similar documents from other Orthodox churches, we can see several differences.

The uniqueness of the document received by Ukraine is that it clearly outlines the boundaries of the new church. Having a community outside Ukraine is prohibited by the CCA. That is, the communities of Ukrainian believers in the diaspora (Europe, USA, Canada) come under the control of the ecumenical patriarch.

For the first time, the role of the Patriarch of Constantinople as the highest court of appeal in controversial matters is spelled out in Tomos. Previously, this was implied by default.

There are items in Tomos that do not allow you to change the status of the church, the title of its leader or the charter she lives on. This can be done only in agreement with Constantinople.

All tomos differ from each other. Sometimes the tomos describe the history of the church. So, in the Serbian Tomos, the history of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is described in great detail. Similar points have Poles, Czechs and Slovaks.

The Tomos of the Albanian church, which was issued in 1937, is unique in that it separately states the promise of the secular authorities to guarantee the freedom and rights of Orthodox believers. In Albania, the Orthodox are a minority, and the local authorities achieved the independence of their church, to some extent, thanks to this promise inscribed in Tomos.

In the tomos of the Romanian Church, which it received in 1885, it is separately noted that “His Majesty the King of Romania and his royal government” asked for the independence of the local church in Constantinople. Greece was issued a tomos in 1850 at the official request of not only the government, but also the local clergy, as well as believers. This detail is described in the tomos of the church. The Greek document is also unique in that it gives the local Synod the power to register divorces of believers. Before this, those wishing to get a divorce had to apply to Constantinople.

In the Ukrainian Tomos the head of the new is mentioned. Epiphanius churches and President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.

In the documents of the Greek, Albanian, Polish, Czech and Slovak churches it is indicated that they receive special ecclesiastical oil - miro - only from Constantinople. Miro is used, for example, at the baptism or consecration of new temples. Other churches can make butter themselves or receive it from Constantinople, but in their Tomos it does not appear. New Ukrainian church will receive oil from Constantinople.

At the same time, tomos unites the fact that they indicate the name of the new church, as well as the title of its leader. In most Tomos, the Synod, a collegial body of several bishops — something like the Cabinet of Ministers is vested with the highest authority.

In all tomos it is said that after the election of a new head of the church, he must send letters to leaders of other churches — an analogue of credentials and the establishment of diplomatic relations between states.

Each document states that the newly created church, and especially its leader, must “keep the Orthodox faith in purity.”

Recall at the end of November Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate approved the text of Tomos about autocephaly of the future united Ukrainian church, as well as a draft of its charter. But for independence, representatives of all Orthodox denominations in Ukraine had to get together and come to a consensus on the charter and the head of the new church. Meeting and choosing the head of the future independent church December 15 took place in Kiev. The Russian Orthodox Church has condemned this process.

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